Roy Keane appears to have been making all the headlines recently with his much published book.

The question I keep asking myself is did he really need to write the book just yet? He's still playing and certainly doesn't need the money.

The one thing I will say about him is that he tells it how it is. In the book he is stated as saying he didn't like Jack Charlton his former Irish team manager.

In my career I've been quite fortunate not to have had a problem with any manager.

Obviously you don't agree with everything the manager says or does but he's the gaffer and what he says goes as far as I'm concerned.

I must admit to being a bit scared of my first manager at Aston Villa - a certain Graham Taylor. Having seen him blow his top a few times it made me a bit nervous to say the least.

The last time I had a meeting with Graham was the summer before he took over as England manager.

He offered me my first professional contract on one condition - I shaved off the ridiculous moustache I had attempted to grow! Alf Inge Haaland and Manchester City are ready to sue Keane over the tackle he made during a Manchester derby a couple of years back. Haaland still hasn't made a complete recovery from the injury and, while I don't normally agree with players suing each other, I can see Haaland's point on this one.

We all lose it from time to time on the pitch and I'm no exception to that. I've had my share of disagreements on the pitch but once the game's over that's it for me.

I've seen a few incidents in the tunnel over the years but once everyone is showered and has cooled off it's usually forgotten.

In football you come up against people you don't like and you might tackle them that bit harder, but all in all I think the majority of players are fair and wouldn't set out to intentionally put someone's career at risk.

Back at Feethams it's been a mixed week for Darlington fans. First we had a great opening day win at Cambridge followed by a draw and a defeat at home to Swansea and Oxford respectively.

We certainly don't do things the easy way do we! Four points from the opening three games isn't a disaster but we felt we really should have had at least seven.

This is probably the youngest squad I've seen with only myself, Neil Maddison and Brian Atkinson over 30. I certainly felt old when we had a night out the other month in the Isle of Man.

Finally, I get my first taste of management this weekend. I'm helping coach Middlesbrough under 11s along with former Hartlepool player Paul Dalton - we play Newcastle on Sunday.

I'm very grateful to the manager and chairman for allowing me to get some valuable coaching experience before I retire in a few years. Hopefully, I can help them become better players and they can help me with my coaching.

Published: 20/08/2002