Back in the starting XI for Stoke tonight against man city. Game is live on sky
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/s...ht-445000.htmlThe image of Keane tentatively approaching his email inbox with a furrowed brow is a real treat, but one player whose fitness is rarely a concern - even during an injury-plagued season - is Jon Walters.
Keane told the 700-strong Silver Springs audience that the Stoke City forward is borderline maniacal when it comes to his personal fitness, and that missing a few months' action would do little to hamper his performance for Ireland if he's called upon on Saturday week.
He isolates Jon Waters as one player he knows will show up, as proved when the Stoke player played through injury at Euro 2016.
“Jon is a big player for us, a big personality. I was down at Stoke the previous weekend and he was sub, but he did more in the warm-up than some players did when the game was on. He’s a great attitude and a fitness freak.
“Jon hasn’t played much football but I wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep about Jon tuning up and not having played for a few months. You know for that week with Ireland, he’s different class. You want people like Jon in the trenches with you.”
Yeah. Because a blind man couldn't see that he was clearly not fit enough to start against Sweden in the Euros. Before going on to miss subsequent games against Belgium and Italy.
Worked out brilliantly, for sure.
And he's looked so sharp in this campaign.
And we clearly don't have the options to play in his stead.
Last edited by TheOneWhoKnocks; 11/03/2017 at 2:15 PM.
Anything new to contribute?
I just felt compelled to point out how absurd (and worrying) Keane's comments are.
Hm. Keane's record as a professional versus a broken record.
Close call this. I'll get back to you in a day or so.
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Roy Keane played a different tune when Shay Given put himself forward to play injured in Euro 2012.
I simply felt compelled to point out the hypocrisy of what he said.
What did Keane say about Given that time? I remember him saying something about him playing in all the friendlies to rack up caps alright another time.
He's just saying now that Walters is a very important player and that he's a great pro basically with high fitness levels. It's obvious they took a gamble on him in that Sweden game and it didn't pay off, but teams often take gambles on the fitness of players they deem important, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. The real problem as far as your concerned is that you don't want him in the team anyway, fair enough, but no need to keep beating around the bush with this fitness stuff. You didn't want him in the team in the last campaign either and he turned out to be a vital player for us, hopefully it'll work out like that as well this time if they do continue to play him.
He was poor against Sweden and Italy in the Euros and his form has carried into this campaign yet there isn't a snowball's chance of him being dropped; I also think his general form in the last campaign has been overstated but that's just my opinion.
I'm not against having him in the squad or even the first team per se, but the fact is he has been shoehorned into the team - whether up front or out wide - several times at the expense of more sensible options and I am sick of it.
A blind man can see he does not have the engine to play out wide at least.
Long, Murphy and McGeady have all been in good form at club level yet I wouldn't be surprised to see 2 or even 3 of them left out for the Wales game.
Hoolahan and McClean should be writing themselves into the team yet only one of them would probably be expected to start.
It's getting harder and harder to justify playing him but it will long continue.
Against Italy?Originally Posted by TheOneWhoKnocks
What did Keane say about Given?
DeLorean, stop being coy.
Not everything someone has ever said is preserved in amber for eternity.
Sometimes it takes time to find a record of something someone said four years ago.
I'm only after finding something re: James McClean to back up something I said several weeks ago, after scrolling through hundreds of pages of his thread, but of course I cannot do anything about that now.
And yes he was poor starting against Sweden and coming off the bench against France.
*typo
I didn't even ask for evidence, I asked what he said.
We were p!ssing against the wind by the time Walters appeared against France, silly stuff to be using against him.
Called him selfish for playing in Euro 2012 when he was not fully fit back when he was on his anti-Given kick.
Now that wasn't so difficult.
I realise I can be a bit defensive sometimes, I apologise.
No problem. Having been in Poland for most of Keane's comments around that time everything was second hand. I only discovered years later than Keane 'bashing' the Ireland supporters was taken completely out of context. I certainly remember him having a pop at Given on a couple of other occasions though (e.g. the Henry goal and 'easy' accumulation of caps).
Why can't you produce the evidence now (in the relevant thread obviously)? If it backs up a claim that you made (that was obviously perceived as dubious?) I'm sure everybody would be only too happy to see the evidence now. Plus you're kind of leaving us hanging with the comment above.
Well he probably wouldn't win the popularity vote but it shouldn't be about popularity or who has the higher media profile.
If anyone comes into the midfield I'd rather it be him based on what he's done on the pitch, where it matters, in previous performances.
Walters won and scored a penalty for Stoke today against Chelsea, although they ended up losing 2-1.
Just scored a lovely bullet header at the near post v Liverpool. Completely unmarked (he made the space for himself) but nice finish all the same.
Liverpool had a penalty shout waved away just before and Stoke broke straight up the pitch to score.
Whelan came on for him in the 68th minute to shore things up, with Stoke winning 1-0.
By the 72nd minute they were down 2-1.
Didn't see much of the game so not suggesting it was his fault, but maybe worth pointing out seeing as every goal we concede without Glenn present is attributed to his absence.
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