English (but Irish?) players

[cavan_fan]

I very much doubt that , by that logic Wayne Henderson would be able to get a game for England.

Unusual given injuries withdrawls etc. that Henderson is in the team, but Paul Robinson wouldnt be our No.1 and Kiely would have got a lot more caps for England than he did for us. Even Kenny would be on the fringes of the England squad.

[EalingGreen]

I remember reading a few times that he speaks Irish, as one of his parent's family are from a gaeltacht in Connaught!

http://www.okeydokefootball.com/showHate.asp?HateID=2

According to the above, Keown's parents are (may be?) from Kerry, though I remember hearing it was Fermanagh, so perhaps he's not sure himself!

As a Spurs fan, I always thought him a bastrad - and an ugly one at that. He was one of the first players I heard opposing fans sing:
"Keown's got a Monkey's Head" (to the tune of Pet Shop Boys' "Go West"), though Spurs fans were slightly more subtle.
To the tune of "Yellow Submarine", it was:
"Mar-tin Keown peels bananas with his feet, they're all he'll ever eat, he thinks it's such a treat" :)

The other story I heard about him was soon after he joined Villa. On his radio phone-in show, Danny Baker invited listeners to tell stories of meeting footballers away from the game.
One guy phoned in to say that he worked for a debt-collection company and he was sent to an address in the Midlands, to repossess a three piece suite.
When he got there, Keown was sitting in the living room, half-dressed in the middle of the day. The guy was a bit worried at how Keown might react, but he didn't seem to care, since it was "the wife's business"! :confused:

[gustavo]

Kiely would have got a lot more caps for England than he did for us..

Do you really believe that?

[cavan_fan]

His competition would have been late Seaman and David James. I think during James' reign he would have been No.1

[Adrianovic]

I disagree with that.

Yes, he'd have got the odd game when James was being villified by the media - but by then Robinson was in the offing anyway.

James is a better keeper than Kiely, always has been. That's not taking anything away from Kiely, who was a fine servant to Ireland and never let us down.

I'd also vouch that James playing for Liverpool and later Villa during that era would trump Kiely of Charlton. Who you play for counts for a lot, e.g. is Kieran Richardson better than Kevin Nolan? And would the few club appearances of Wright-Phillips be normally picked over Aaran Lennon? On our front, see John O'Shea (sorry John).

Ade

Ade