Roy Keane: Mourinho lucky not to get punched over handshake

Roy Keane has reclaimed some of the limelight from Kevin Pietersen in this week's battle of the sporting memoirs after turning his fire on former boss Alex Ferguson and branding Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho "a disgrace".

The former Manchester United captain was at his combative best at the launch of his second autobiography, responding to criticism from his old manager Ferguson and opening up a new battle front by attacking Mourinho.

Keane's falling out with Ferguson has been well documented, but his comments about Chelsea's Portuguese boss might came as something of a surprise.

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At the launch of his book in Dublin, Keane, now assistant manager at Aston Villa, was asked about an incident earlier this season when Mourinho tried to shake hands with him and Paul Lambert before the end of the game (won 3-0 by Chelsea) at Stamford Bridge. He responded, says the Daily Telegraph, in "brutal fashion", suggesting the Portuguese was lucky not to get punched.

"It's disgraceful, I've seen him doing it to other managers, it is a disgrace. The game is still going on. You wouldn't do that on a Sunday morning, you would get knocked out," he said.

Asked if he felt Mourinho was arrogant and disrespectful, Keane replied: "What do you think? That's a stupid question. Yeah."

Keane also renewed his attacks on one of his older targets, Ferguson, explaining that he did not take kindly to the way the veteran Old Trafford boss had written about him in his own autobiography.

He told the BBC that he did not think it fair that Ferguson could criticise players who had won so many trophies for him.

"A manager who has made millions of pounds out of us, got statues and stands named after him, and he thinks he can criticise us without anybody saying anything to him because he thinks he's got all this power. I thought, 'No, why should we sit back and listen to this nonsense?'"