Robbie Keane

[sylvo]

Listen,I dont have to explain anything to any of you so go to hell the lot of ye :mad:


Stay on the other side of the road cause you can never tell, we've a thirst like a gang of devil's, we're the boy's from the county hell.

The Pogues
Boy's from the County Hell

From the album, red rose's for me.

BTW You did'nt right that song with Shane McGowan did yer.

[lopez]

Listen,I dont have to explain anything to any of you so go to hell the lot of ye :mad:Don't you mean 'can't explain'? :rolleyes:

[Pat O' Banton]

Listen,I dont have to explain anything to any of you so go to hell the lot of ye :mad:

Indeed you don't and if the standard of your explanations so far are anything to go by I'd try not to.

Just a quick question, since Robbie now plies his trade in Ingerland is his opinion on his own performance less valid? When you see him being interviewed do you run to turn off the TV muttering about goms living in Ingerland and the like?

Yours
Confused of norf Landaaan :confused:

[green goblin]

"I'm not narrow-minded. Some of my best friends are gay/black/moslem/English..." (delete as appropriate)

To build on what Pat O said, the first law of holes is stop digging.

:rolleyes: PP

...And to build on what pp's saying, the second law of holes is to stop talking out them. :p

[DiscoPants]

This point has been brought up before but I've never come across a more frustrating player to watch in my life. First of all Robbie is at 24 already a legend. Leading scorer with fifty odd caps is class, its pretty obvious he loves wearing the green aswell. That said am I the only one he drives absolutely mental? Last night after trying that ridiculous chip over the keeper I nearly threw my shoe at the tv, only to be dancing around the room two minutes later after his goal. Why does he waste so many chances trying to score beautiful goals, all the great strikers score scrappy goals. When was the last time you saw Shearer or Van Nistelrooy score a great goal?

Keanes convesion rate of chances to goals is awful, I reckon its about one in four or five at this stage. Dont get me wrong I'm not suggesting he's a bad player but surely (as Giles mentioned after the Holland friendly) all this rubbish can be coached out of him. He seems to play like hes still on the streets of Tallaght. Thankfully most of his misses seem to come in games we end up winning but sooner or later hes going to cost us points in a big match.

[eirebhoy]

This has been done to death on this forum before and the majority agreed but he has quit all the fancy shít since the first set of qualifiers. Do you honestly think he chipped the ball when one on one just to be fancy? Of course he didn't. The keeper stood up tall and judging from the camera angle behind Keane he did the right thing (of course in hinsight he didn't). The keeper just barely got his hand to it. Other than that he was fine last night.

[thejollyrodger]

I agree with Eireboy's post there.

As long as he doesnt start up the fancy stuff again I'll be happy :D

[ken foree]

i wish he'd quit that feckin cartwheel/pistol celebration though, it must be the worst in world football! celebrations are bad enough but even his bow and arrow was better than this one

[DolansWaistcoat]

i wish he'd quit that feckin cartwheel/pistol celebration though, it must be the worst in world football! celebrations are bad enough but even his bow and arrow was better than this one

Come on ffs,it's better than most of the crap out there.What do you want him to do run around and put his hand in the air like Shearer or maybe stand and stare at the crowd and opposition goalie like Henry.

[4tothefloor]

Other than that he was fine last night.

I thought Keane was useless. Clean through on goal twice, and he messed up both times. His passing was brutal, his first touch was just as bad. Most of all, his decision making is absolutely terrible, and was really poor last night. At one stage he passed out wide to Duff, when it was easier to just slip the ball to Miller on his inside, Miller would have been through on goal. When he won the ball off of the keeper in the 2nd half, he couldn't play a simple low cross into Elliott. Too much fannying on the ball.

Seriously, he has to improve, cos he is going to do this in an important game. His work rate is always good, and he always gives his all, but he has to start aiming to improve. Record goalscorer or not, he is missing more and more easy chances and it is going to cost us.

I thought Richard Dunne, Finnan and Duff were our best players, kavanagh also did well in midfield. Wasn't impressed with Miller at all, and I think we've seen the last of Gary Breen. Thought John O'Shea was his usual brutal self, Finnan for left back I say. The real star of this team though is Damian Duff, you take him out and we're in big trouble....

[eirebhoy]

and I think we've seen the last of Gary Breen.
I am absolutely 100% sure that if Cunningham is injured or banned Breen will be his replacement. If O'Brien is unavailable Dunne will be his.

[ken foree]

Come on ffs,it's better than most of the crap out there.What do you want him to do run around and put his hand in the air like Shearer or maybe stand and stare at the crowd and opposition goalie like Henry.

well it's not even a GOOD cartwheel though is it? come on admit it. yes even those you mentioned would be better! no big deal but i hate all the gymnastics like earnshaw and the boy from africa that does it

[ken foree]

Come on ffs,it's better than most of the crap out there.What do you want him to do run around and put his hand in the air like Shearer or maybe stand and stare at the crowd and opposition goalie like Henry.

p.s. though judgin by your sig, you have an eye for, shall we say, dramatic gyrations? :D

[thejollyrodger]

leave Robbie alone. he gets us the goals when we need them. Everyone else is crap so it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to start slagging him. It is like the Spanish Media's campaign to get rid of Raúl FFS. They wanted him out of Real Madrid !!! I know this isnt the same level but it borders on the same kind of madness.

I think Morrison up front is going to be more effective than Elliot. He looked the business in Stade de Paris and I was convinced that he would have scored if he didnt come or injured or at least had the assist to robbie.

[the ox]

Yeah Robbie Keane is a legend. He doesn't take as many chances as he should and maybe used to. When he was sent through and tried to lob the keeper I didn't expect him to score, whereas a few years ago I would have. However he's still one of the best players we have (and by his records we have ever had).
And I agree Clinton is still the best partner he have for him. He's improved greatly since he first joined the set-up. His work rate is second to none.
Also what's with all the slating of John O'Shea? He mite not be as good as he was in his first season but he's still a decent full back and much better than Steve 'nosebleed outside his own third' Finnan.
Also Barry Quinn should be back in the squad

[drinkfeckarse]

Jesus, are some people never happy :mad:

Robbie is no Ronaldo but he is a great player on his day and he's also the best we've got by miles.

Yes he's got his faults and can be frustrating but sure why don't we throw David Connelly back in there instead of him and then people might have a right to moan :rolleyes:


Stop moaning about him and accept him for what he is...a great striker who misses his fair share of chances.(like every other striker)

We're lucky we have players like him.

[eirebhoy]

Also what's with all the slating of John O'Shea? He mite not be as good as he was in his first season but he's still a decent full back and much better than Steve 'nosebleed outside his own third' Finnan.
Finnan is an awful lot better full back than O'Shea. People may be judging O'Shea by the standards he set in his first season but I'm not, he has just been a poor full back the last year and a half on general standards.

[Donal81]

Jesus, are some people never happy :mad:

Robbie is no Ronaldo but he is a great player on his day and he's also the best we've got by miles.

Yes he's got his faults and can be frustrating but sure why don't we throw David Connelly back in there instead of him and then people might have a right to moan :rolleyes:


Stop moaning about him and accept him for what he is...a great striker who misses his fair share of chances.(like every other striker)

We're lucky we have players like him.

Spot on. Unless someone can suggest an alternative, I don't see the point. Keane could be a much better player than he is at the moment, all that complaining to the ref is tiresome, but he still has potential. I didn't think he played well at all the other night but he got in the right position for the goal that won us the match. As a striker, that's enough, a lot of the time.

[Stuttgart88]

With regard to the cartwheel goal celebration one of my English colleagues at work (I live in London) pointed out that it's a bit rich if Duff dances past 3 defenders, plays a great ball in to the box and Robbie taps it in and goes off on an egocentric goal celebration.

I think my colleague was right when he said his first instinct should have been to run to thank Duffer for laying it on a plate for him.

[eirebhoy]

I think my colleague was right when he said his first instinct should have been to run to thank Duffer for laying it on a plate for him.
Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. BTW, has anyone noticed that when Chelsea score Robben is always over to praise the player who assisted the goal? Even when Duff flicked the ball back to Robben for his goal against CSKA Duff was praised by a lot of his teammates. It was Duffer that should have been celebrating on Tuesday.

[ken foree]

it's not a HUGE deal but i generally agree, it's almost as if these modern celebrations have TM next to them ('robbie's cartwheel is brought to you by cirque du soleil..') - guess i like seeing more.. raw emotion from players when they score

[eirebhoy]

guess i like seeing more.. raw emotion from players when they score
Anything but that **** Henry standing still thinking he is God will do me. :)

[thejollyrodger]

yeah, its like a total anti climax. Some arsenal fella who scores and does the freaky stare... :rolleyes: I guess its whatever your into Henry !

Raúl does the "kiss my families ring" job then runs around then kisses the crest on the jersey. Another Mé feiner and the rest of the team cant really join in and celebrate till he has finished.

[ken foree]

Anything but that **** Henry standing still thinking he is God will do me. :)


great player but seems arrogance personified (guess that's endearing if your an arsenal follower!)

[tricky_colour]

With regard to the cartwheel goal celebration one of my English colleagues at work (I live in London) pointed out that it's a bit rich if Duff dances past 3 defenders, plays a great ball in to the box and Robbie taps it in and goes off on an egocentric goal celebration.

I think my colleague was right when he said his first instinct should have been to run to thank Duffer for laying it on a plate for him.

Too true Duff would be entitled to do a quadrouple somersault with five
twists in comparison.

[tricky_colour]

Robbie could learn a lesson from Duff in how to go round the keeper
if he watchs the first minute of the Chelsea game!!
In a similar position I bet Robbie would have shot or tried to lob
the keeper.

[Condex]

Never a truer word(s) written from todays Independent...

Scorning game's simplicity
Sunday November 21st 2004

THEY chanted Robbie Keane's name at Lansdowne Road on Tuesday. The striker had scored the only goal in the victory against Croatia to ensure that Ireland's year ended with another victory. One defeat in 2004 for Brian Kerr's side and that was on a summer's Saturday afternoon in London when most people, including the Irish team, had better things to be doing.

One more goal for Robbie Keane in a year when he became Ireland's greatest goalscorer, but it was also a year when his talent hardened, when it became clear that this may be as good as it gets for Robbie Keane. And a lot of the time, that isn't very good at all.

For every Paris, there are several Basles (two, at least, literally). For every Amsterdam, there are too many stepovers, a reluctance - once understandable in a player so young and so talented - to do the simple thing. On Wednesday, Keane was given a new opportunity but he responded in the same old way. Kerr told him forget about forming a partnership, use your talents however you see fit and those around you will endeavour to please you.

This may be as good as it gets for Robbie Keane. And a lot of the time, that isn't very good at all

Damien Duff did exactly that for the goal, moments after Keane had shown, as he did against the Faroe Islands last month, a startling inability to finish in a one-on-one situation. There was a time when Keane and Duff's friendship seemed to disappear when they walked onto the field for Ireland. Keane was young and in demand. Duff was young and uncertain. While Duff worked hard and grew frustrated as his talents didn't immediately take hold, Keane showed no inclination to allow anybody else to play with his ball.

Today, Keane needs Damien Duff. The Chelsea winger's moments of brilliance illuminate the international game with a regularity Keane cannot match. Duff's talent allows Keane easy finishes like Tuesday night's. Keane can do easy and he has the talent to do difficult, what he appears to have trouble comprehending is the straightforward.

There are many who have played with Robbie Keane - Tony Cascarino being the most vocal - who believe Keane is incredibly difficult to form a striking partnership with. On Tuesday night the formation Kerr adopted seemed to be, in part, ideally suited to working around this problem. Would Ireland discover that Keane had been tortured for all these years by trying, some of the time anyway, to form an understanding with another man?

Instead there was further frustration. Croatia were talked up beforehand and it was in everyone's best interests to place them among the top teams in Europe once victory had been secured, but even at their strongest, these days they are an ordinary, brutish team. That Ireland were able to experiment with a formation which seemed to baffle the players for much of the first half and still come away with a victory, albeit in a friendly, tells you much about the opponents.

Kerr's experiment was done with future games in mind. In underage tournaments, Kerr often changed his side's shape depending on opponents. He may do the same if Ireland make it to Germany. Keane, the Ireland manager believes, benefits from a strong, physical partner - even if, as was the case with Cascarino, the feeling isn't always mutual.

"I think Robbie likes a biggish partner who takes the pressure off him," Kerr claimed late on Tuesday night. "But games are different and you look to break teams down in different ways. Tonight, he was central, alone but making good runs because the other two (Duff and Stephen Eliott) had their back four stretched and were creating space for Robbie to run into."

One of Kerr's hopes for the New Year when he could achieve World Cup qualification will be to encourage Keane to play more often as he did in Paris. That night his great technical ability was focused on doing the simple things well. He was elusive and committed and world-class.

"Robbie's learning all the time," Kerr insists. "His work-rate has improved and increased dramatically. In France and Holland, we asked him to play off a little bit. Not always to be up on top of the last man because we might need him in midfield. He handled that well and worked hard at it. He's a young player with a lot of expectations. And he has his own ideas about how to play a position as well."

Keane's self-belief has allowed him to become the player he is, for good and for bad. His swagger has not diminished. In fact, on the bad days, it can appear to be all he's got - a nonchalant flick to nobody or a stepover that allows the defender to take the ball, are less than he should deliver with his talents.

On the good days, they all come off. Keane can pass the ball well and his finishing used to be extraordinary. Now, perhaps through a lack of confidence to which he would never admit, he seems to be unable to beat a 'keeper in a battle of wills.

A man who had managed Keane once confided in the predicament he felt when the decision came to select the team. Occasionally he would toy with leaving the player out. Occasionally he would drop him, but the image of Keane at his best kept nagging him. His capabilities were too tantalising and the vacant space he stared into if Keane wasn't on the pitch was too huge. So Keane played and the frustrations grew.

For the player, these limitations on a talent that announced itself so magnificently at the age of 17 must be frustrating. Keane approaches Christmas, as he has approached so many in the past, uncertain in his club position, wondering where he will next wander as he tries to fit into a pattern, to find a place in the middle ranking clubs of England.

At Tottenham Hotspur, it would appear that only failure can keep Robbie Keane in the first 11. Last weekend, before he travelled to Dublin, Keane was on the pitch as nine goals were scored at White Hart Lane.

He had endured a numbing time while Jacques Santini was in charge. The former French manager was cautious and afraid. Spurs played some times with nine defensive players. Towards the end of Santini's "memorable" time, Keane was playing in midfield.

Keane approaches Christmas, as he has approached so many in the past, uncertain in his club position

The new regime had promised to change all that. Keane started upfront alongside Jermain Defoe against Arsenal. Keane had little involvement with any of the goals and never came close to scoring. His partnership, such as it is, with Defoe looks unworkable. In a game dominated by defensive mistakes, Keane was startlingly quiet. His passing, as it is on the bad days, was always a foot or two misplaced.

Defoe, on the other hand, scored the best goal of the nine. He is Tottenham's main striker now and Martin Jol will have to keep him happy or watch him walk. Defoe may leave anyway if Spurs do not make Europe or some other unexpected progression.

The big clubs will look for him, the way they once considered Robbie Keane, and the Irishman may stay a little longer in the one place but only if his club becomes too mediocre to hold onto Defoe.

It is not where Keane expected to be. He is Ireland's record goalscorer, a remarkable achievement at the age of 24. The majority of his goals may have come against the weaker teams in world football, but he has still scored enough against the world's best to demand to be feared. As he reaches his peak, it remains to be seen if Robbie Keane can continue to strike fear based on more than just reputation.

Dion Fanning

[eirebhoy]

Never a truer word(s) written from todays Independent...

That this may be as good as it gets for someone the same age as Richie Partridge?

[Condex]

That this may be as good as it gets for someone the same age as Richie Partridge?

What has Richie Partridge got to do with whats been written or said ?

His performances of late for both Spurs & Ireland have been poor,
but hes the best we've got at the minute.

[Eirambler]

Keanes goals to games ratio for Ireland since Kerr took over is higher than its ever been.

I can't understand why Irish writers have to follow the british approach of criticising our best players. Dion Fanning's weekly pops at Robbie Keane are getting tiresome at this stage.

The guy is in the Roy Curtis/Cathal Dervan/Paul Hyland land of sh!t journalism

[thejollyrodger]

well said Eirambler.

Robbie is one of our best players like it or not. He obviously needs to work on certain parts of his game but no player is perfect.

[eirebhoy]

What has Richie Partridge got to do with whats been written or said ?

His performances of late for both Spurs & Ireland have been poor,
but hes the best we've got at the minute.
You said there has never been truer words spoken so you are saying that this may be as good as it gets for Keane. How can you say that about a 24 year old?

[Condex]

All right then, Robbie Keane is playing great at the moment!!!

[DiscoPants]

I think most of what Fanning says is spot on. He is actually a fairly decent writer, knows what he's talking about.
I think the Irish media have been very reluctant to criticise anything thats been happening on the field since Brian Kerr took over namely the performances against Faroes and Cyprus.
On the point of our media gravitating towards the English mindset of "building them up to knock 'em down",I dont see this at all. Fanning is just expressing an opinion on something that is blindingly obvious. Its nothing personal against Robbie Keane, he is underperforming and deserves criticism.
Criticism in the right context can actually be constructive.

[Slash/ED]

It seems to be the thing to do now to slag off our talented players. To say he's been poor for Ireland this year is bullsh*t. 4 qualifyers and one friendly, four goals. He misses chances, but his ability is in getting the chances. If you slagged off strikers for missing chances Henry would be a running joke, he's an average at best finisher but a world class player. Keane is a good player no matter how many chances he misses, he'll always score goals.

[Eirambler]

I think most of what Fanning says is spot on. He is actually a fairly decent writer, knows what he's talking about.
I think the Irish media have been very reluctant to criticise anything thats been happening on the field since Brian Kerr took over namely the performances against Faroes and Cyprus.
On the point of our media gravitating towards the English mindset of "building them up to knock 'em down",I dont see this at all. Fanning is just expressing an opinion on something that is blindingly obvious. Its nothing personal against Robbie Keane, he is underperforming and deserves criticism.
Criticism in the right context can actually be constructive.



I'd (almost) agree with you if it was just a one off piece in today's paper. But its not. Its the latest in a series of articles Dion Fanning has written criticising Keane, stretching back for years.

It might just be that, like all of us, he wants Keane to be as good a player as he can be, but sometimes it seems as though he has a personal vendetta against the bloke.

[1MickCollins]

Fanning is completely over the top but as a hack he has to churn out this drivel, Keane is still only 24 - the problem is in many ways he became a star at 17 and has had 5 clubs in a very short time, different coaches, different philosophies, huge expectations and no continuity. He probably just needs some extra coaching, I think when people see natural talent they just let it alone and don't fix the problems - now is the time to do that. He has up to 10 more years in top flight football if his club want to get value for money it would be in their best interest to fix the problems now, or will Spurs take the easy way out and just buy another striker? Keane can improve but he needs help.

[Condex]

On the bench tonight against Villa.

[4tothefloor]

Lads, most of ye are missing the point. This is not a competition on who likes\dislikes Robbie Keane. I'm a massive Keane fan, but my patience is wearing thin. It is simply a case of constructive criticism. Credit where credit is due, and Robbie has gotton plenty of it in the past. But the simple fact is that he is playing badly at the moment. He is playing really poorly, and as he is our main striker, it is worrying.

Anyone has the right to criticise, as long as it is constructive, and nobody here can tell me that Robbie Keane played well on Tuesday night. He was rubbish, and apart from Paris, he has been quite poor for us for a long time now. I have no problem in saying this, as i'm not in love with Robbie Keane, nor do I think his $hit is ice-cream. I prefer to judge players performances objectively, rather than fanatically, which is how a lot of fans view players. Goals against third world nations don't paper over the cracks for me, nor does this Irish goals record. Great achievement, only 24, blah, blah, blah.......what about the ridiculously easy chances he keeps missing? What about his poor general play\link play? As someone mentioned earlier, I had no confidence in him scoring that 1-on-1 on Tues night, and that was the case for most people. Doesn't say much, does it?

IMO, Fanning was spot on in his article, like he is in the majority of his articles. Some fans just don't like to hear or read that kind of stuff, but they'll be the same fans who, should we fail to qualify, won't understand why we didn't qualify.

[eirebhoy]

4tothefloor - constructive critisism is OK but its saying things like "The majority of his goals may have come against the weaker teams in world football" is silly. Why did he have to say that. Keane has scored 11 of his goals against top 15 teams [Yugoslavia, Turkey, Czech Republic (2), Holland (2), Russia, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Croatia]. Teams that weren't the worst that he scored against would be Iran, Albania (beat Greece recently) and Finland (doing well in the "group of death"). Plus, a goal in the world cup is never bad. Its not as if we play the stronger nations so much more than the weaker ones. If anything Robbie wasn't scoring enough against the weak nations before this campaign. The reason Fanning put that line in there is because he is biased (I'm not making that statement based on this article alone BTW).

If he was 28 or 29 the rest of the article would probably be true but you cannot say things like "As he reaches his peak, it remains to be seen if Robbie Keane can continue to strike fear based on more than just reputation" or "This may be as good as it gets for Robbie Keane" about a 24 year old.

[1MickCollins]

Lads, most of ye are missing the point. This is not a competition on who likes\dislikes Robbie Keane. I'm a massive Keane fan, but my patience is wearing thin. It is simply a case of constructive criticism. Credit where credit is due, and Robbie has gotton plenty of it in the past. But the simple fact is that he is playing badly at the moment. He is playing really poorly, and as he is our main striker, it is worrying.

Anyone has the right to criticise, as long as it is constructive, and nobody here can tell me that Robbie Keane played well on Tuesday night. He was rubbish, and apart from Paris, he has been quite poor for us for a long time now. I have no problem in saying this, as i'm not in love with Robbie Keane, nor do I think his $hit is ice-cream. I prefer to judge players performances objectively, rather than fanatically, which is how a lot of fans view players. Goals against third world nations don't paper over the cracks for me, nor does this Irish goals record. Great achievement, only 24, blah, blah, blah.......what about the ridiculously easy chances he keeps missing? What about his poor general play\link play? As someone mentioned earlier, I had no confidence in him scoring that 1-on-1 on Tues night, and that was the case for most people. Doesn't say much, does it?

IMO, Fanning was spot on in his article, like he is in the majority of his articles. Some fans just don't like to hear or read that kind of stuff, but they'll be the same fans who, should we fail to qualify, won't understand why we didn't qualify.

Keane has come out today and basically said he has been playing like crap this season so far. BTW what is your point? That you are stating the bleeding obvious? If you want to be constructive then provide suggestions as to what should be done - we all know he hasn't ben playing well but don't write off the next 10 years...

[tricky_colour]

Keane has come out today and basically said he has been playing like crap this season so far. BTW what is your point? That you are stating the bleeding obvious? If you want to be constructive then provide suggestions as to what should be done - we all know he hasn't ben playing well but don't write off the next 10 years...


What I would say about Keane is that it is great that he has become
Ireland top scorer at 24 (or whatever) but he can be so frustrating at
times.
I might be being a bit harsh on him because I have seen loads of top
strikers RVN and Henry miss 'easy' chances.

I think maybe he likes to go for the 'spectular' goal at times when something
less spectular is a better percentage, you don't get any extra points
for scoring great goals so keep it simple!

We should not really be knocking him though, he is the best we have, and
I doubt any of us would have taken the chances better!

Scoring goals against top class sides will never be easy and I guess that
is something we will have to learn to live with.

We have only conceeded 1 goal in 4 games (scored 6) in the qualifiers so
far, so do we really have that much to complain about?

[4tothefloor]

4tothefloor - constructive critisism is OK but its saying things like "The majority of his goals may have come against the weaker teams in world football" is silly. Why did he have to say that. Keane has scored 11 of his goals against top 15 teams [Yugoslavia, Turkey, Czech Republic (2), Holland (2), Russia, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Croatia]. Teams that weren't the worst that he scored against would be Iran, Albania (beat Greece recently) and Finland (doing well in the "group of death"). Plus, a goal in the world cup is never bad. Its not as if we play the stronger nations so much more than the weaker ones. If anything Robbie wasn't scoring enough against the weak nations before this campaign. The reason Fanning put that line in there is because he is biased (I'm not making that statement based on this article alone BTW).


I think what Fanning is saying is that all his recent international goals have come against the poorer nations, which is true. The record has been achieved by goals against Cyprus & The Faroes. He is saying that goals against these nations, & in friendlies have papered over some worrying cracks in his game. And I think he is right. But that's not the point of the article. Who he scores his goals against is irrevelent, it's the ones he is not scoring that are the problem. It's not just chances he is missing. It's numerous chances. Numerous easy chances, bread & butter chances, and that's what the article is really about. That's all it is saying. All Fanning is asking is "Is this as good as Robbie Keane gets?". "Is he always going to be a kamikazee finisher"? I think he is perfectly entitled to ask those questions, as am I........Keane is talanted, but will he ever lose his bad habits, or is it too late?

[4tothefloor]

BTW what is your point?

My point is that a lot of posters on here don't like to see or hear criticism, especially when it involves Robbie Keane. This forum is as much about criticism as it is about praise. It's called debate......just because Robbie Keane is our record scorer doesn't make him immune from criticism. But some people on here jump down your throat at any criticism of Keane and start to waffle on about his record, etc, etc, yawn, and how ridiculous you are to be criticising him etc. It's laughable.

BTW, Constructive criticism is by it's very meaning "telling it as it is", "stating facts", "stating truths" as opposed to being sensationalist. So I don't know what your point is when you say "BTW what is your point? That you are stating the bleeding obvious?"

And finally, I never said anything about writing off the next ten years. I talked about the present and near future, nothing about writing off careers. Now that is sensationalist... ;)

[Kingdom]

IMO, Fanning was spot on in his article, like he is in the majority of his articles. Some fans just don't like to hear or read that kind of stuff, but they'll be the same fans who, should we fail to qualify, won't understand why we didn't qualify.

Yeah I'd have to agree with the above point. I think he usually hits the spot with his articles. He certainly doesn't dole out the drivel and stupid articles like Paul"1 eye lookin at ya the other eye lookin for ya" Hyland does. And as far as him turning on his own , it is no way near as bad as the English get it. In fact I don;'t see any comparison at all.

[Ozymandias]

fanings point about "is this as good as it gets for Keane" is valid in terms of his club carreer....Defoe is a better striker than him..probably not as good all round play as him but deffo better striker.. I think this point raises the question that if lkeane has to leave spurs where does he go..none of the top clubs will want him and he might end up a lower ranked premiership club( bit rich coming from a spurs fan I Know)...what robbie needs is to be playing in europe regularly to hone his game ...he ain't gonna get that and I fear for him at spurs(and I am a spurs fan) I was over at the arsenal game and keane was frustrating to watch ad seems to have developed a streak that if the ball isn't bang on he'll wave his arms around and also he is going to ground to easy..this was never his natural game and it is affecting his all round play....Fannings articles definitely raised valid question marks about Keane ...but I don't think his ability is in question...keane has the ability and potential....but that potential needs to be realised at some stage ..I hope it is really do

[Plastic Paddy]

I'd have him at Celtic like a shot. But, given the parlous state of our team at the moment, I'd also take John B. and even Mollie Keane. :D

:D PP

[Ozymandias]

to be honest plastic paddy.. thats where I see him ending up..

[Plastic Paddy]

There's precious little chance of that in the present climate. To say the Celtic board are parsimonious is a gross understatement. Yet he appears to need a challenge/boot up the arse alright, and a move away from Tottenham may prove his only option if he doesn't pick things up.

:ball: PP

[DolansWaistcoat]

There's precious little chance of that in the present climate. To say the Celtic board are parsimonious is a gross understatement. Yet he appears to need a challenge/boot up the arse alright, and a move away from Tottenham may prove his only option if he doesn't pick things up.

:ball: PP

Keane has moved around far too much for a player of his age and moving again won't help him improve at all,stay at spurs awhile and stick it out,if he becomes a sub on a permanent basis then he would have to move on.

Although banging in thirty goals a season at Celtic might make him feel like the best striker on earth when he comes back to play for us against proper,organised defences he would struggle.