Robbie Keane

[tetsujin1979]

reports are that McGeady was suffering from a virus yesterday and wasn't 100%

[Charlie Darwin]

Keane in line to start after all, according to the Times.

[Scooby Doo]

Keane in line to start after all, according to the Times.
Keano back! Thank God! ;)
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0301/keanerobbie.html

[yapster]

reports are that McGeady was suffering from a virus yesterday and wasn't 100%


thats the least of his problems

[smellyfeet]

Keano back! Thank God! ;)
http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2010/0301/keanerobbie.html

TBH, I think Trap should stay with Best and Doyle up front. Bring Keane on if needed but we need to look at other players and best is one to be looked at, anyway, Robbie Keane is just trying to be a hero....

[yapster]

TBH, I think Trap should stay with Best and Doyle up front. Bring Keane on if needed but we need to look at other players and best is one to be looked at, anyway, Robbie Keane is just trying to be a hero....


spot on.. I don't think Celtic will be too happy with this....

[OwlsFan]

Robbie Keane is just trying to be a hero....

He isn't trying to be...he is.

[Duggie]

He isn't trying to be...he is.

100 per cent hero. ran his heart out last night closing down. got no service due to the lack of possession last night. he can keep playing till hes 50 as far as im concerned.

[yapster]

He isn't trying to be...he is.

sad....

[Razors left peg]

Im gettin seriously p1ssed off with this forum. The captain of our country is getting abuse for wanting to turn up and actually play for us.People saying Leon Best should have started instead, why??? he has done ok in a couple of brief appearances and has yet to score since he went to Newcastle. By the time the next friendly comes along people will be calling for the next flavor of the month to start. Robbie Keane scored 6 goals in the last campaign to get us within a sniff of quaifying and has smashed the previous standing goalscoring record for the national team.... and yet some a$$hole calls Owlsfan sad because he says Robbie Keane is a hero.

I got a PM this evening from a poster on this forum that has been here for years, long before me, and he is one of the members I would respect the most.He asked me how Im managing to keep posting here because so many idiots have taken over what was always a very good place for proper discussions about football.He said he cant bring himself to do it anymore and Im really beginning to see his point.

[CarrickFan]

Very well said Razor.

[Closed Account]

Fully agree Razor, I used to come here to get find out the general feeling of real Irish fans but not anymore. Some threads aren't worth opening.

[Charlie Darwin]

Im gettin seriously p1ssed off with this forum. The captain of our country is getting abuse for wanting to turn up and actually play for us.People saying Leon Best should have started instead, why??? he has done ok in a couple of brief appearances and has yet to score since he went to Newcastle. By the time the next friendly comes along people will be calling for the next flavor of the month to start. Robbie Keane scored 6 goals in the last campaign to get us within a sniff of quaifying and has smashed the previous standing goalscoring record for the national team.... and yet some a$$hole calls Owlsfan sad because he says Robbie Keane is a hero.

I got a PM this evening from a poster on this forum that has been here for years, long before me, and he is one of the members I would respect the most.He asked me how Im managing to keep posting here because so many idiots have taken over what was always a very good place for proper discussions about football.He said he cant bring himself to do it anymore and Im really beginning to see his point.
I agree with the general sentiment, but in this case I do think we've missed a trick. We know exactly how good Robbie is, but it would have been interesting to see Leon and Doyle play together. Every time Best has come on, he's had to slot into Doyle's target man role, even though he has bags of pace and sees himself in the number 10 role playing off a target man. Wouldn't it have been more instructive to see how he handled it, or to switch his and Doyle's roles and seeing how Doyle did as the off-man?

I'm sure Doyle and Keane know each other a little better having had another match under their belts, but we're never going to improve our options if we don't try out more combinations up front.

[Razors left peg]

Charlie I have no problem at all with some experimentation, far from it. But what I do have a problem with is slagging off Robbie Keane because he has the audacity to want to actually play.All Robbie can do is make himself availible and its up to the manager to decide what team to pick from there on.

I would have like to see Robbie be subbed last night as it happens because I thought he was very poor on the night and I would have liked to see Stokes or Best come on to play alongside Doyle who in my opinion was brilliant.But as I keep saying, the training camp and the 2 games in the end of season are the places to do the sort of mass experimentation on the team that some are advocating.

Last night was a very high profile game against one of the top sides in world football,call me old fashioned but I want us to be able to compete in those type of games and that means getting our best availible team on the pitch and that includes our captain and all time record goalscorer

[irishfan86]

Perfect post Razor. Brazil is not the sort of team you experiment against. We had enough enforced changes as it was last night -- putting out an experimental team to get thrashed by Brazil would be counterproductive.

2-0 is respectable, and the team can be happy with its first half performance against one the best sides in the world. Like you say, the time for experimentation will be during the training camp and the two friendlies at the end of the season.

[Charlie Darwin]

Yeah, there's a decent argument on both sides of the issue, but I still think Keane has a responsibility as the skip to look at the bigger picture and realise that we have far less experience up front than in any other position. At the same time, he and Doyle are still a little bit like strangers on the pitch, but they didn't seem to get any closer last night either.

[yapster]

The Keane & Doyle thing up front hasn't worked out so far and I don't think it will sadly, Best & Stokes must be given experience against top opposition.
Everybody lashed Trap for Glen Whelan at the start but with experience he has come on leaps and bounds. I don't fault Keane and Givens committment to Ireland but I think especially with Given playing too many freindlies is detrimental to any other keeper in the squad. Also I would not class Keane as a hero as he did fluff the chances to put Ireland on the plane for South Africa against France. A vital player for Ireland all the same.

[OwlsFan]

Typical Yappie. Focuses on the negative and never accentuates the positive. If Keane hadn't scored, we wouldn't have got to extra time in the first place. Apparently he now has to take 100% of his chances and no doubt Yapster would even then still find fault.

As for the team, neither Given nor Keane picks the team. That is the manager's job. All a player can do is make himself available and not that many would have shown willingness to turn up on a Tuesday after a draining game the previous Sunday.

[geysir]

I must have fallen asleep and missed all that extra time drama.

Even when Robbie takes his chances the morons would moan about his goal celebration.

[yapster]

Typical Yappie. Focuses on the negative and never accentuates the positive. If Keane hadn't scored, we wouldn't have got to extra time in the first place. Apparently he now has to take 100% of his chances and no doubt Yapster would even then still find fault.

As for the team, neither Given nor Keane picks the team. That is the manager's job. All a player can do is make himself available and not that many would have shown willingness to turn up on a Tuesday after a draining game the previous Sunday.


only the easy chances that are vital owls

[WexCar]

Ok then Yappy, As far as the Irish team is concerned who do we replace Keane with?

Stokes.....No
Long.................No
Best...........No
Morisson......No
Doyle as a lone striker......No

Nobody is saying he is the perfect striker, in reality he is the best forward that Ireland has ever produced and at the moment there is no player out there that can repalce him on the Irish team.

NO PLAYER TAKES ALL THEIR CHANCES, we can only judge him on him and what he has achieved in an Irish shirt.
You can say he doesn't score against the big teams, the important games, but ask urself which players score in the majority of their big & important games?

[gustavo]

only the easy chances that are vital owls

So a striker scores more of the easy chances than the difficult ones


This is a shocking revelation thanks for bringing it to the forum's attention

[SilkCut]

You can say he doesn't score against the big teams, the important games, but ask urself which players score in the majority of their big & important games?

No you Fu3king well can't, I am not Robbies biggest fan but that notion has been shot down so many times on here that no one should ever be allowed mention it again.
He has scored against Yugoslavia, Netherlands, France and Italy in qualifiers, Germany and Spain in a World Cup, Czech Rep. (twice), Denmark (3), Netherlands (again) Croatia and Sweden in friendlies (anyone who says those teams are not bigger than us is dreaming) also he has scored some important qualifier goals (when the chips were down) against teams who are at least as good as us or were at the time. Georgia (3) Wales, Isreal and 3 against Cyprus. He has also scored in countless important club games down the years inc. League cup final and champions league.
The notion that he doesn't score against big teams or in big games is a notion held only by IDIOTS, the tiniest bit of research will prove them wrong.

[SkStu]

well said Silkcut - my advice though, dont let yapster and his crap get you so wound up. Best left ignored.

[irishfan86]

He has also scored in countless important club games down the years inc. League cup final and champions league.

I'm a big Robbie fan, and he certainly has scored against the big teams for us, but he did not score in the league cup final (Berbatov and Woodgate scored the two goals).

To the best of my knowledge, Keane never scored a meaningful Champions League goal either (group stage only).

[yapster]

Ok then Yappy, As far as the Irish team is concerned who do we replace Keane with?

Stokes.....No
Long.................No
Best...........No
Morisson......No
Doyle as a lone striker......No

Nobody is saying he is the perfect striker, in reality he is the best forward that Ireland has ever produced and at the moment there is no player out there that can repalce him on the Irish team.

NO PLAYER TAKES ALL THEIR CHANCES, we can only judge him on him and what he has achieved in an Irish shirt.
You can say he doesn't score against the big teams, the important games, but ask urself which players score in the majority of their big & important games?


I'm not and have never said that he should be dropped and he is the best striker Irelands got at the moment, all I'm saying is he misses too many easy chances for my liking and a vital one in Paris.

[yapster]

So a striker scores more of the easy chances than the difficult ones


This is a shocking revelation thanks for bringing it to the forum's attention


Yes if he is a good striker. In football you do the simple things well.

[Serb]

A couple of goals for Robbie in the Celtic game today. BBC says:


And now we have a goal, a cracker at that. Morten Rasmussen plays a clever hooked pass to Robbie Keane and the striker slides the ball past the advancing Olejnik into the bottom corner.


Celtic double their lead with 11 minutes remaining. The razor-sharp Robbie Keane reacts well to pounce on a quick Marc Crosas free-kick and nick the ball past Robert Olejnik into the net.

[yapster]

A couple of goals for Robbie in the Celtic game today. BBC says:


And so he should in a bad league.

[SilkCut]

I'm a big Robbie fan, and he certainly has scored against the big teams for us, but he did not score in the league cup final (Berbatov and Woodgate scored the two goals).

To the best of my knowledge, Keane never scored a meaningful Champions League goal either (group stage only).

My apologies you are absolutely correct he didn't score in the final, perhaps I let my emotion run away with itself!!! He scored twice for Liverpool in the group stages of the champions league, this is the highest stage of club football and he was under intense scrutiny at the time, they were massive goals.

[Drumcondra 69er]

My apologies you are absolutely correct he didn't score in the final, perhaps I let my emotion run away with itself!!! He scored twice for Liverpool in the group stages of the champions league, this is the highest stage of club football and he was under intense scrutiny at the time, they were massive goals.

He also missed a sitter in that game by tring to be too flash which is probably what really did for him at Liverpool seeing as they only wound up drawing if memory serves. That's Robbie.

But, as pointed out he's our best striker ever by a street and the criticism here is laughable. Strikers miss chances, always have, always will. There's parts of his game that irritate (drops too deep for my liking when he's not involved for example) but I dread to think where our goals would come from without him.

[Serb]

For all the shíte that Robbie gets, you can't help but feel that the people criticising him will only appreciate his contribution after he's gone. Take our last squad for example:

Robbie Keane. 98 caps. 41 goals.
Every single other player combined. 562 caps. 37 goals.

It's a ratio of 6:1 in Robbies favour.

[jbyrne]

its the good old Irish trait of knocking our own successful people. robbie has been a brilliant servant to our country even playing v albania a few days after his dad passed away. his goal scoring record is twice our next highest scorer yet clueless "fans" continue to knock him. players like daryl murphy and stephen elliot have been put forward as better options than him over the years..... hillarious really

[yapster]

its the good old Irish trait of knocking our own successful people. robbie has been a brilliant servant to our country even playing v albania a few days after his dad passed away. his goal scoring record is twice our next highest scorer yet clueless "fans" continue to knock him. players like daryl murphy and stephen elliot have been put forward as better options than him over the years..... hillarious really


Yes of course Robbie has been Irelands best striker which wouldn't be hard when you think about what came before him. No one can doubt his committment to Ireland.

[Nedser]

To the best of my knowledge, Keane never scored a meaningful Champions League goal either (group stage only).

Has he ever played a Champions League game outside of the groups stages? I don't think he has. AFAIK, he only ever played in the CL for Lvierpool, and they sold him before the knock-out stages started.

It's also pretty hard to argue that Liverpool's only goal in 1-1 draw away to Atletico Madrid wasn't meaningful. And his other CL goal for Liverpool put them 2-0 up against PSV in a game they went on to win. Ok, so that's not going to make a list of most crucial goals in history,but it's a bit unfair to suggest it was meaningless.

[Colbert Report]

Has he ever played a Champions League game outside of the groups stages? I don't think he has. AFAIK, he only ever played in the CL for Lvierpool, and they sold him before the knock-out stages started.

It's also pretty hard to argue that Liverpool's only goal in 1-1 draw away to Atletico Madrid wasn't meaningful. And his other CL goal for Liverpool put them 2-0 up against PSV in a game they went on to win. Ok, so that's not going to make a list of most crucial goals in history,but it's a bit unfair to suggest it was meaningless.

Didn't Leeds get to the CL semi-finals back in 2001? Wasn't he on that team?

[endabob1]

No he was cup tied because he had played with Inter in the qualifying rounds

[christo]

Nice goal against Kilmarnock there from Keane

[Razors left peg]

Nice goal against Kilmarnock there from Keane

his first touch was absolutely world class

[EastTerracer]

No matter the standard of the opposition (and it is admittedly poor) it is great to see Robbie scoring regularly for Celtic. He took his hat-trick well today (although one was a tap-in). He has made the most of his loan spell at Celtic and should have put himself in a good position to either return to Spurs or get a move to another Premiership club next season.

[superfrank]

Does he have seven goals in seven league games there?

[tricky_colour]

He made their defense look bad.

[EastTerracer]

Does he have seven goals in seven league games there?

Today's game was in the Scottish Cup so it's actually 4 league goals and 4 cup goals in a total of 8 games. Not a bad record regardless of the standard.

[Lenny82]

Pavlyechenko isn't doing him any favours if he is hoping for a return to Spurs!!!

[yapster]

He made their defense look bad.


Their defense are bad..

[ArdeeBhoy]

Er, it's "defence".

[yapster]

Er, it's "defence".


really.....

[ArdeeBhoy]

Yeap, we're not into Sceptic speak!

[yapster]

Yeap, we're not into Sceptic speak!


I suppose being Sceptical is not healthy then?

[ArdeeBhoy]

Yes!!