2002 was the year of Roy Keane, if not exactly Roy Keane's year. Banished from Ireland's World Cup squad and then suspended by the English FA after comments in his best-selling autobiography, the Manchester United and Ireland captain was seldom out of the news. Red Mist is Conor O'Callaghan's memoir of the year when an Irish hero was arraigned in the court of public opinion: argued about in bars and across shop counters, debated by the media and surrounded by a torrent of rumours. From the drawings of O'Callaghan's football-mad seven-year-old son and the mysterious disappearance of his rag doll Mr Roy Keane that summer to eavesdropped conversations and tirades on websites, this is a passionate exploration of celebrity, temperament, one-all victories, Saipan, the World Cup, and national aspiration.
'Cleverly observed and beautifully written ... O'Callaghan manages to outfeverpitch Fever Pitch with his memoir, his love of the game and his empathy, with a brilliant but flawed man, dripping from the pages'
