Robbie Keane

[Charlie Darwin]

I'd say he was dropped because West Ham have a handful of really good strikers yet were still losing games. He's been fit for about 8 games and started 4 or 5 of them, coming off the bench in the rest. He's looked decent anytime I've seen him play for them, his open goal miss notwithstanding.


You mean if he decides he will play somewhere other than London and take less money? :D
Ha, that's what I was getting at yeah. I mean that when push comes to shove I think he's more likely to relocate in England than to go to MLS or Abu Dhabi.

[an_ceannaire]

There are about 14 Premier League clubs at any given time that would give an arm for Robbie's services. The only issues are his wage demands and not wanting to leave London, both of which can be worked around.

Good god man your delusional!!!!

[gustavo]

Good god man your delusional!!!!

His delusional what ?

I think it's absurd to think that Robbie won't be able to get a Premiership club. I imagine his wage demands won't be too high as he needs a clean break and I can see a number of clubs being interested in his services.

[an_ceannaire]

He played, scored, got injured and then was rotated in a team which had 4-5 strikers. He was as much a victim of a dreadful team in terrible form and a manager's selection indecision as anything else - albeit his dreadful miss didn't help matters. Either way a striker struggling in that dross team isn't particularly surprising.

I don't think it's a question of fight so much as Robbie accepting he can't dictate the terms any more - if he accepts that he could go to any number of Premiership clubs and succeed.

Fulham, Wolves, Blackburn, Birmingham, Stoke, maybe even Everton or Villa would be interested if the price was right. Not top teams but hardly time to put out to pasture and get a big US/Middle East pay day. He's only 31 and this isn't Logan's Run.

I admire your loyalty to him but its clouding your judgement. Everton/Villa wouldnt touch him with a barge pole. Villa have Darren Bent. Everton are after Shane Long and Gary Hooper. RK isnt even on their pretend list!
Fulham have Dempsey Zamora and AJ so he wouldnt get a game. Wolves are a definite possibility.

[an_ceannaire]

If RK was Scottish/Welsh and we were having this discussion on the General Forum...do any of you seriously think Darwin would be making those same points!!
Shane Long, Craig Bellamy, Gary Hooper. These are the strikers the lower Prem clubs will be looking at.
The only Prem club I can see RK at next year is Wolves. And if he was anything other than Irish, ye would all agree.

[SwanVsDalton]

I admire your loyalty to him but its clouding your judgement. Everton/Villa wouldnt touch him with a barge pole. Villa have Darren Bent. Everton are after Shane Long and Gary Hooper. RK isnt even on their pretend list!
Fulham have Dempsey Zamora and AJ so he wouldnt get a game. Wolves are a definite possibility.

So are you saying Fulham wouldn't be interested because they have an attacking midfielder, a stop-start on-off striker and another striker who has scored the grand total of 27 league goals in 124 appearances in the last five seasons?

And you are also saying Gary Hooper is going to more highly desired than Robbie (46 international goals, joint 10th all-time Premiership goalscorer, not than anyone should need the reminder...)? I think you'd need to watch who you're accusing of delusion here...

Everton have no money - if the price is right he could be a cheap option. But regardless if you accept Wolves, why can't you accept Stoke, Birmingham (if they stay up), Newcastle, QPR, Blackburn, Bolton, Norwich etc? This is all assuming he's affordable and willing - if he is, I don't think there's any reason why one or more of these clubs wouldn't be interested.

It has nothing to do with his Irishness. His record speaks for itself. I have no qualms, for instance, saying he's on his last lives (for Prem football) but saying he's only good for the Championship or, God forbid, the MLS is well off imo.

[an_ceannaire]

what do u think is his best possible move? Everton? How the mighty have fallen if thats all he can hope for!!!

Gary Hooper is an England U21 and has consistently scored goals wherever he has been
Robbie is a HAS BEEN

If you asked any fans of any of the clubs you mentioned which player they would prefer....i can guarantee you....it wouldnt be Robbie!

[SwanVsDalton]

what do u think is his best possible move? Everton? How the mighty have fallen if thats all he can hope for!!!

Gary Hooper is an England U21 and has consistently scored goals wherever he has been
Robbie is a HAS BEEN

If you asked any fans of any of the clubs you mentioned which player they would prefer....i can guarantee you....it wouldnt be Robbie!

What's wrong with Everton? Not Barcelona enough for you?

Hooper's never played for England at any level. He's only scored goals for Scunthorpe and Celtic. Which is fine - except you're comparing him to a 31-year-old who's got more Premiership and international goals than Hooper scored in his wildest childhood Roy-Of-The-Rovers fantasies...

[an_ceannaire]

Everton are nothing but Liverpools Noisy Neighbours!
Some come down for a lad who played for the Reds no!?

Robbie WAS great, i wouldnt deny that for a second. He was class. He still could be. But he just couldnt be arsed.
Thats why he annoys me so much. He still COULD be class, but the man couldnt be arsed and is afraid of his moth!
Classic premiership footballer.
Money made, happpy out.

[boovidge]

Everton are nothing but Liverpools Noisy Neighbours!
Some come down for a lad who played for the Reds no!?

Robbie WAS great, i wouldnt deny that for a second. He was class. He still could be. But he just couldnt be arsed.
Thats why he annoys me so much. He still COULD be class, but the man couldnt be arsed and is afraid of his moth!
Classic premiership footballer.
Money made, happpy out.

Anyone with a small amount of knowledge on Keane's career knows that he's never been content with sitting on the bench collecting his pay cheque. Why was he so desperate to leave Liverpool or to go on loan moves to Celtic and West Ham when it wasn't working out as Spurs?

[Charlie Darwin]

People confuse lack of form/confidence with lack of effort. Having seen Robbie in most of his games for West Ham, he's clearly willing but it's not happening for him. He gets into really good positions to receive the ball outside the box but his role doesn't seem to be in the box as it is for Ireland.

[DannyInvincible]

Gary Hooper is an England U21 and has consistently scored goals wherever he has been
Robbie is a HAS BEEN

Robbie was banging them in for fun at Hooper's current club only last season; 12 goals in 16 league games, SPL Player of the Month for March and Celtic Fans' Player of the Season despite having only been there for half of it.

I think you're stirring. You're the Kevin Myers of the forum.


Hooper's never played for England at any level. He's only scored goals for Scunthorpe and Celtic.

Aren't you forgetting about his Grays Athletic days; 20 goals in 69 league games. They play in the Isthmian League Division One North, you know? :giggle:

[John83]

You're the Kevin Myers of the forum.
Kevin Myers gets paid to be that obnoxious.

[an_ceannaire]

Ye love me really :) Place would be boring without me!!!

[rebelmusic]

I know he'd never move there but Robbie needs to go to a manager like Hodgson who has a strong record of rejuvenating the careers of older players. I truly believe Duff's turn around in the last 2 years i largely due to Woy.

[mark12345]

People confuse lack of form/confidence with lack of effort. Having seen Robbie in most of his games for West Ham, he's clearly willing but it's not happening for him. He gets into really good positions to receive the ball outside the box but his role doesn't seem to be in the box as it is for Ireland.

"He gets into really good positions to receive the ball outside the box but his role doesn't seem to be in the box as it is for Ireland."

I've been saying this for the last two or three years. Robbie's best football is played outside the box. How many times have we seen him running from just past halfway (in a Tottenham shirt) at defenders and doing a quick one-two to set up a chance or score? Robbie is a great attacking midfielder. Problem is people expect him to score goals and that side of his game has diminished somewhat. I just wish Trap would play him as an attacking midfielder for Ireland!

[Sullivinho]

Redknapp has not closed door on Robbie Keane (http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/05/23/2499692/tottenham-boss-harry-redknapp-expects-jamie-ohara-to-make-wolves-)

"I haven't written Robbie off at all. He is a top-class professional who has played over 100 times for his country," he added.

"He captains the Republic of Ireland team. He is a top-class professional. He has to come back here and fight to play in the team now."

Hmmmm. :struggle:

Apparently Wolves had an agreement to buy O'Hara if they stayed up too so the England prospect will have to do his impressing from Molineux again next season.

[SwanVsDalton]

Harry's canny enough not to shut any doors - particularly when his other strikers have been pretty abject this year. Still be a huge surprise if Robbie can salvage a career at Spurs.

[drummerboy]

The unfortunate truth is that he is a shadow of his former self. Mick McCarthy might be tempted though.

[tetsujin1979]

Was in Galway for the weekend, and watched the Spurs game in Fagan's on Eyre Square with a Spurs season ticket holder. According to him, Robbie is going to QPR in the summer, the deal has already been agreed and will be announced in the next few weeks.

Never occurred to me to ask why a season ticket holder would be in Ireland on the last day of the season, but anyway.

[DannyInvincible]

"He gets into really good positions to receive the ball outside the box but his role doesn't seem to be in the box as it is for Ireland."

I've been saying this for the last two or three years. Robbie's best football is played outside the box. How many times have we seen him running from just past halfway (in a Tottenham shirt) at defenders and doing a quick one-two to set up a chance or score? Robbie is a great attacking midfielder. Problem is people expect him to score goals and that side of his game has diminished somewhat. I just wish Trap would play him as an attacking midfielder for Ireland!

Agree with this. He was great performing a role from midfield in Bari. And I always remember this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaPYtRFofdI

[Philly]

Seems to be open to a move down a division now:

"The chances in the Premier League for me are fairly slim.

"For me it is about enjoying my football and playing as much as I can, maybe going to a team where I can maybe help the younger players that are coming through.

"I am not getting any younger but I will go back and see what happens.

"I am a Tottenham player and I am sure they will want to get a bit of money for me.

"Whether a Championship team would pay that, that's another problem, but I want to play in the Premier League for the next couple of years."

http://football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_6947452,00.html

If Reading go up, could a Long/Keane partnership be a possibility for them? It would mean him giving up a lot of his salary, but he would get games and still be close to London.

[DannyInvincible]

Well, at least he appears willing to do what it takes to get a game of football, but I still reckon he's good enough for Premier League football.

[Acornvilla]

back to celtic for another loan?

[gastric]

Article from The Independent.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/keane-refuses-to-contemplate-life-outside-the-elite-2655104.html

[DannyInvincible]

Well, at least he appears willing to do what it takes to get a game of football...

Hmm, on second thoughts...

[elroy]

Redknapp has not closed door on Robbie Keane (http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/05/23/2499692/tottenham-boss-harry-redknapp-expects-jamie-ohara-to-make-wolves-)

"I haven't written Robbie off at all. He is a top-class professional who has played over 100 times for his country," he added.

"He captains the Republic of Ireland team. He is a top-class professional. He has to come back here and fight to play in the team now."

Hmmmm. :struggle:

Apparently Wolves had an agreement to buy O'Hara if they stayed up too so the England prospect will have to do his impressing from Molineux again next season.

With Harry you never know, that could be him trying to big up Keane for a big more cash move this summer. Keane has only one year left on contract now so hard not to see him leaving Spurs. In any case 'arry may not even be at Spurs next season.

[SkStu]

With Harry you never know, that could be him trying to big up Keane for a big more cash move this summer. Keane has only one year left on contract now so hard not to see him leaving Spurs. In any case 'arry may not even be at Spurs next season.

thats exactly what my initial thoughts were too. In reality, Bagpuss has no time for Robbie Keane, that much is clear.

[DannyInvincible]

Bagpuss

Droopy the dog, surely...

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XrCFW7qgRZM/TOcCyLyPduI/AAAAAAAAI7E/xG3kcBzjQeU/s1600/droopy.jpg

[SkStu]

Love it Danny!! :D

I dunno though - make your own minds up. Here he is with Arsene Wenger.

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00254/bagpuss_254978a.jpg

[John83]

Love it Danny!! :D

I dunno though - make your own minds up. Here he is with Arsene Wenger.

http://www.independent.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00254/bagpuss_254978a.jpg
And... is that Denis Wise and his mum?

[weldoninhio]

He's a washed up, never-was. He scored goals for Ireland, even a few against the bigger teams, but what has he ever won?? Any time he's gone to a big club its been disasterous. He's looking for one last bumper payday before retiring.

[theworm2345]

He's a washed up, never-was. He scored goals for Ireland, even a few against the bigger teams, but what has he ever won?? Any time he's gone to a big club its been disasterous. He's looking for one last bumper payday before retiring.
That never-was scored 48 goals (and counting) for his country including ones that the rest of us will never forget. I guess you would value the Champions League runner up medal he got with Liverpool over those though in spite of his minor contribution to the cause?

[Sullivinho]

He's a washed up, never-was. He scored goals for Ireland, even a few against the bigger teams, but what has he ever won?? Any time he's gone to a big club its been disasterous. He's looking for one last bumper payday before retiring.

Claudine turn you down? Plenty of fish and all that. ;)

[Serb]

He's a washed up, never-was. He scored goals for Ireland, even a few against the bigger teams, but what has he ever won?? Any time he's gone to a big club its been disasterous. He's looking for one last bumper payday before retiring.

I think that's very harsh on every level. He has scored goals consistently in his career, for club and country, since he was 17. He would never have gotten the moves to big clubs if he wasn't scoring goals, and I don't think that his moves to either Inter Milan or Liverpool were disasters — they were unlucky more than anything.

The manager that bought him for Inter got sacked, and when Tardelli came in, he didn't give the 20 year Robbie, that he knew nothing about, many chances. With Liverpool, it's widely accepted that Benitez didn't buy Robbie, he was brought in by the higher powers. He would score goals and then be dropped for the next match regardless. He ended up with 7 goals in 28 games for Liverpool, which isn't too shabby considering the amount of game time he got. His record for Spurs, who aren't exactly a small club, is very good — 121 goals in 293 appearances. Not too many strikers can boast a better record than that.

As for winning things, well, he has only has a League Cup to his name, but there are a lot of better players who haven't won anything, and a lot of much worse players who have a hoard of medals. The usual people that are mentioned in this context are players like Matt LeTissier and Alan Shearer, but I'm sure if I looked around, I could some equally well known and medal-light footballers. I don't think a lack of medals proves that someone was not a top quality individual footballer, it just means they never played in really great teams.

[Murfinator]

Redknapp has not closed door on Robbie Keane (http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/05/23/2499692/tottenham-boss-harry-redknapp-expects-jamie-ohara-to-make-wolves-)

"I haven't written Robbie off at all. He is a top-class professional who has played over 100 times for his country," he added.

"He captains the Republic of Ireland team. He is a top-class professional. He has to come back here and fight to play in the team now."

Hmmmm. :struggle:

Apparently Wolves had an agreement to buy O'Hara if they stayed up too so the England prospect will have to do his impressing from Molineux again next season.

Its wise, if Spurs cannot secure regular champions league involvement I think they'll wind up losing Modric and Van der Vaart ( I don't include Bale since hes overrated tripe and nowhere near the level of the other two), if they do lose those two they'll move away from the 4-5-1 and discover some striking problems. Defoe is abject, Crouch is and always has been mediocre, Pavel is a decent player. If Keane did somehow rediscover his form he'd be greatly welcomed into the starting lineup.

That said I think Harry is hoping to buy a couple of strikers because they desperately need them, and his talking up of Keane is probably more to try and encourage higher bids for him through claiming hes of some value to spurs. If he's still there in August I'd expect to see comments more along the line of "well he wants to play and we cant always guarentee that, if the right offer came in we'd consider it etc etc"

[elroy]

When you compare the commitment of Keane to that shown by some of the younger lads over the last few days.............

The guy has given us his all over the last 15 years or so. He has been a great servant who will not be fully appreciated until he is retired.

[tetsujin1979]

So far this season, Robbie's scored three goals at club level, and five at international level, with potentially three more international games to come, although I wouldn't mind seeing him rested for the Italy game.

[gustavo]

Lovely strikers instinct and finish from Keane last night for his first goal. Not bad for a "never was" :)

[dr_peepee]

Michael McMulllen (or however ye spell it) reckons Keane is retiring after the Euro qulaifiers!!

[Duggie]

Michael McMulllen (or however ye spell it) reckons Keane is retiring after the Euro qulaifiers!!

ya heard his say this but he was just speculating. i dont think he will quit after this campaign, hes only soon 31. as long as hes playing well and scoring i dont see him quitting. God forbid the day he does, im dreading it.

[AlaskaFox]

Michael McMulllen (or however ye spell it) reckons Keane is retiring after the Euro qulaifiers!!

Why would he do that? He'll miss the finals next summer if he did. :D

[Nedser]

Sorry if this has been posted already, but just realised that among players still playing, Robbie is now the leading international goalscorer in the world - in the past week he overtook Drogba, who is on 47.

4 more goals would take him into the top 10 of all time, and 8 more would see him overtake Gabriel Batistuta and into 7th place of all time. If he keeps playing I'd put money on him achieving that.

Never was indeed!

[Duggie]

the man is a living legend, i dread the day he hangs his boots up with ireland.

[Sullivinho]

Sorry if this has been posted already, but just realised that among players still playing, Robbie is now the leading international goalscorer in the world - in the past week he overtook Drogba, who is on 47.

4 more goals would take him into the top 10 of all time, and 8 more would see him overtake Gabriel Batistuta and into 7th place of all time. If he keeps playing I'd put money on him achieving that.

Never was indeed!

It's remarkable.

I had the misfortune of visiting another forum during the week where some tool was yapping about him in derogatory terms. It was like watching that Iraqi information minister during the war, carrying on with his position becoming ever more ludicrous. Granted, Keane can be frustrating at times but you'd swear he'd personally insulted some of these people.

[Bottle of Tonic]

Has to be considered Irelands greatest ever player. Unreal scoring record and yeah, I dread the day he goes too.

[DeLorean]

Sorry if this has been posted already, but just realised that among players still playing, Robbie is now the leading international goalscorer in the world - in the past week he overtook Drogba, who is on 47.

4 more goals would take him into the top 10 of all time, and 8 more would see him overtake Gabriel Batistuta and into 7th place of all time. If he keeps playing I'd put money on him achieving that.

Never was indeed!

This isn't quite true. You are getting your statitstics from a table that contains the highest scorer for each individual country, therefore it doesn't include players who are 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. for their countries. For example, Miroslav Klose has 61 goals for Germany, but isn't included on the list as Gerd Muller is Germany's record goalscorer.

It's still a phenomenal record for Keane. 49 goals for a country placed in the toughest qualifying zone, generally around the third seeds mark is a huge achievement. He is right to want to beat the British record also, a lot of people seem to think it's irrelevant. I would certainly take a lot of pride from him outscoring everybody on these two islands...ever!

[tetsujin1979]

Sorry if this has been posted already, but just realised that among players still playing, Robbie is now the leading international goalscorer in the world - in the past week he overtook Drogba, who is on 47.

4 more goals would take him into the top 10 of all time, and 8 more would see him overtake Gabriel Batistuta and into 7th place of all time. If he keeps playing I'd put money on him achieving that.

Never was indeed!
Eto'o is ahead of him on 52, unless he's retired?

[DeLorean]

Eto'o is ahead of him on 52, unless he's retired?

There are another few ahead of him too, including Stern John!! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_association_football_players_with_50_or_mo re_international_goals)

[Nedser]

This isn't quite true. You are getting your statitstics from a table that contains the highest scorer for each individual country, therefore it doesn't include players who are 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. for their countries. For example, Miroslav Klose has 61 goals for Germany, but isn't included on the list as Gerd Muller is Germany's record goalscorer.

It's still a phenomenal record for Keane. 49 goals for a country placed in the toughest qualifying zone, generally around the third seeds mark is a huge achievement. He is right to want to beat the British record also, a lot of people seem to think it's irrelevant. I would certainly take a lot of pride from him outscoring everybody on these two islands...ever!

Oops, sorry about that! But as you say the point holds.


Eto'o is ahead of him on 52, unless he's retired?

Well, that's Wikipedia for you! Three different pages have three different totals for Eto'o: 46 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_international_association_football_goal_scorer s_by_country), 50 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_association_football_players_with_50_or_mo re_international_goals) and 52 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Eto%27o). I'm inclined to believe 52 is correct and the other two are just out of date, but the page with 46 prompted my original post.


There are another few ahead of him too, including Stern John!! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_association_football_players_with_50_or_mo re_international_goals)

Stern John is retired, surely?!