Robbie Keane

[OwlsFan]

I'd back him to score tomorrow

Hope you did ;)

[Duggie]

so pleased he scored last night, it was important to him going back to tottenham. nice neat finish but overall the service up to him was terrible.

[tetsujin1979]

Hope you did ;)
nope, actually I should have added in "if I still gambled" to the original post

[geysir]

Was Robbie not 1/14 to score anytime? Doesn't count as a tip :)

My red hot tip, St Ledger at 5/1 to score anytime, failed to deliver. It looked like he stayed back and let the others go up for the set pieces. When he did go up he nearly got on the end of one ball. I have to refrain from offering tips.

[tricky_colour]

Ireland were 14-1 on to win.
Robbie I think was about 5/2 or 7/2, that might have been for the first goal though.
Given as he scores almost every other game I expect he would have been odds on against Andorra???

[irishultra]

fact is many footballers are from nacker areas and don't really know much about the world. they watch tv from england and in a lot of ways their mindset resolves around england so its not foreign to them. playing football outside of england seems like such a big deal for them.

[geysir]

Ireland were 14-1 on to win.
Robbie I think was about 5/2 or 7/2, that might have been for the first goal though.
Given as he scores almost every other game I expect he would have been odds on against Andorra???

Ireland were 1/40 to win with PP. Robbie to score anytime was hot odds on.

[Colbert Report]

fact is many footballers are from nacker areas and don't really know much about the world. they watch tv from england and in a lot of ways their mindset resolves around england so its not foreign to them. playing football outside of england seems like such a big deal for them.

I hope you're not talking about Robbie!

[Manblue]

fact is many footballers are from nacker areas and don't really know much about the world. they watch tv from england and in a lot of ways their mindset resolves around england so its not foreign to them. playing football outside of england seems like such a big deal for them.

Please tell me im not the only person on her who finds this statement totally ridiculous

[geysir]

Bad grammar always turns me off, hard to get past a missing capital on the first word, you just know it's going to get worse.

I just assume the content of IU's posts reflects the appearance, garbled.

[shaneker]

It's complete, total, undiluted arse. What an incredibly thick thing to say.

[SkStu]

Please tell me im not the only person on her who finds this statement totally ridiculous

Tallaght, Waterford, Derry, Manchester, Cobh.....

is he really that far off? ;) ;)

[Serb]

I know it's off topic, but in relation to IrishUltra's point: Traditionally, Irish players don't come from particularly nice or wealthy areas of the country. The fact that the top players choose to ply their trade in the English leagues as opposed to the Spanish or Italian leagues for example, has nothing to do with them being from 'knacker' areas or having an English football mentality. The real reasons are far more relevant to Irish culture as a whole and how it differs from European culture.

Walk around the centre of Paris, Milan or Madrid. Ask for directions in English to the nearest train station. You'd be surprised if the person couldn't give you an answer in English. Now imagine that same person came to Ireland and tried asking for directions to the nearest train station in French, Spanish or Italian. Practically zero chance the person they're asking would have a rashers what they're going on about.

Players moving to England is, quite simply, down to the fact that it's easy to settle there because, linguistically & culturally, the UK is more or less the same as Ireland. I know it was mentioned earlier on, but it's quite odd that this was brought up in a thread about one of the few Irish players who has tried to make a go of it in a non-English speaking country.

[Duggie]

reports saying defoe could be put for 6-8 weeks now with injury. i never want to see a player injured but this could be just the break robbie needs right now.

[dr_peepee]

reports saying defoe could be put for 6-8 weeks now with injury.

That's what he gets...

[Colbert Report]

I can't see Harry starting Crouch and Pavlyuchenko every match for the next six weeks, great news for Robbie. He needs to take his chances and play his way back into the team.

[Serb]

Came here to post exactly what Duggie said. This will also be a good test to see if Harry still rates Robbie. If Crouch and Pavlyuchenko (or Dos Santos :P) are starting all the games then you can be sure he'll be off in January. I hope that he gets a good few games in, but more importantly, I hope he gets a good few goals. He really needs them -- look no further than his celebration on Tuesday when he scored against Andorra for evidence of that.

[dr_peepee]

I hope so... If Keane starts in the same Spurs line up of the last couple of games (Huddlestone and Palacios flanked by lennon and Bale) he'll really come into his own..

[Duggie]

i hope he dosent go with pav and crouch, even if he does i dont think they will link well anyway. either way with league, cup and CL games coming up he should see some decent action before our WC games next month first and foremost.

[Charlie Darwin]

I can't see Harry starting Crouch and Pavlyuchenko every match for the next six weeks, great news for Robbie. He needs to take his chances and play his way back into the team.
Would be very harsh to make Crouchie play on a broken rib for six weeks.

That said, the rate players recover these days, six weeks for Defoe is probably a conservative estimate. Will give Robbie a decent chance to lay down a marker if his knees are in OK shape though.

edit: I stand corrected - Crouch appears to be in the frame for the weekend

[paul_oshea]

never nice to happen a player but if defoe is out for 3 months keane is never going to get a better chance to establish himself. He will have to make sure he doesnt take his usual 1 in 4 to score though. Harry is impatient at the best of times.

[dr_peepee]

I haven't checked but I think Robbies scoring rate is closer to 2 in 5...

Edit: Sorry I thought you meant one goal every 4 games. I take it your talking about chances in a game??

[paul_oshea]

yep chances in a game.

[Colbert Report]

Defoe is out for three months now apparently. This can only be good for Robbie.

[paul_oshea]

i just said that above.

[Colbert Report]

i just said that above.

Sorry, I didn't read the thread before I posted. It is 5:48am where I am, just woke up! Please forgive my laziness.

[geysir]

Robbie has a higher ratio of 'scores from chances made', than Paul has of 'posts understood from posts made'.

[ChrisRed]

I hope so... If Keane starts in the same Spurs line up of the last couple of games (Huddlestone and Palacios flanked by lennon and Bale) he'll really come into his own..

What about Modric? Van Der Vaart is there now aswell, couldnt see Harry leaving them on the bench to often, cant see who he would drop from thier current team either. Wouldn't be shocked if he plays Pav up front on his own for a few weeks as Crouch is also out.
Hope he doesnt and Robbie does get a chance!

Whatever happens I think we're get a clear indication of whether Robbie will still be there in January.

[Duggie]

What about Modric? Van Der Vaart is there now aswell, couldnt see Harry leaving them on the bench to often, cant see who he would drop from thier current team either. Wouldn't be shocked if he plays Pav up front on his own for a few weeks as Crouch is also out.
Hope he doesnt and Robbie does get a chance!

Whatever happens I think we're get a clear indication of whether Robbie will still be there in January.

nah i think crouch is fit for sat. he may not start robbie tomorrow but with all the CL, league and cup games coming up he will still get a nice bit of gametime(he should anyway). it would help if he could score when hes on to force himself into the team again.

[Metrostars]

I hate to see any player get injured but Robbie will get more games now. It's up to him, he knows he can score so he'll have to take his chances. Good for Ireland too, if he get scoring in the weeks leading up to the October games, he'll be in fine form.

[SkStu]

on the bench today.

[tetsujin1979]

came off the bench on 64 minutes, wonder if he'll start against Bremen midweek?

[Charlie Darwin]

I can't see Harry going with today's line-up. They dominated the ball and created nothing - even their goal was the result of a long ball and woeful defending.

[Razors left peg]

Robbie has been left out of the Spurs line up tonight with Crouch up front and Van Der Vaart playing off him. Robbie not making that team with Defoe and Modric both injured surely shows he has no future there at all no matter what bullsh1t Redknapp spouts

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm sure Robbie will get his chance with 20 minutes to go when they're 2-0 down.

[tricky_colour]

I'm sure Robbie will get his chance with 20 minutes to go when they're 2-0 down.


Well maybe at 2-1 down as Spurs have just scored ;)
It was an own goal though, so the strikers can't take credit for it.
Very slippery pitch.

[shaneker]

Came on for Van der Vaart on about 55 and didn't have a sniff of a chance. Spurs were totally overrun second half and were very lucky to get away with a point. Keane was no worse than anyone else, dreadful service. He'll be on the bench again for the weekend (then again, he could have scored a hat-trick tonight and that would still be true).

[third policeman]

I feel for Robbie. He must have felt that playing (or not playing) under Benitez was the ultimate footballing nightmare, then along comes Arry. Redknap is a grotesque charlatan. I sincerely hope he gets the England job so that it can all end in the mire of failure, betrayal and scandal.

[Stuttgart88]

Familiar territory - O'Leary wasn't convinced by him either, preferring Alan Smith I think.

[Razors left peg]

Familiar territory - O'Leary wasn't convinced by him either, preferring Alan Smith I think.

that was just madness

[John83]

Familiar territory - O'Leary wasn't convinced by him either, preferring Alan Smith I think.
From what I recall, that was more about Keane being cup tied for the Champions League by his stint at Inter, and Smith doing rather well with Viduka than any difficulty with Keane. Later, Venables did seem not to rate him (he played Kewell, Viduka and Smith up front in a 4-3-3), but given the unmitigated disaster his tenure amounted to, I'd not put much stock in his opinion.

[Duggie]

van der vaart seems doubtful for sat so robbie could get the nod. look if he gets a decent amount of gametime until jan i'll be happy and hopefully he will get out and get a decent move for himself. he should be reasonably sharp for our games in Oct.

[Duggie]

he played yesterday in a "friendly" against a fulham side, strange it seems after playing wed night but spurs had a strong side out. he scored from the peno spot and was peplaced by pav just after half time. will keep him sharp anyway.

[rebelmusic]

Starts today!

[Razors left peg]

would love a 3 all game today with hat tricks for Robbie and Doyler :)

[Noelys Guitar]

Would like to see Keane and Doyle scoring today. Would do both the power of good.

[rebelmusic]

would love a 3 all game today with hat tricks for Robbie and Doyler :)
And Doyles assists from Foley and Ward xD

[EastTerracer]

would love a 3 all game today with hat tricks for Robbie and Doyler :)

As soon as I saw Robbie was playing I had exactly the same thought. Not looking likely so far but we can live in hope!

[Charlie Darwin]

Hasn't really had a chance to affect the game so far - Spurs' only strategy seems to be to bang it into Crouch. I'd imagine Keane will be sacrificed for Lennon after about 55-60 minutes.

edit: as I say it he's just fluffed his lines from 8 yards

[shakermaker1982]

Soccer Saturday said it was a big chance. Sitter or a tricky chance?