Originally Posted by
EalingGreen
Nonsense.
After six years, 250 games and 100 goals in his first spell at the Lane, Spurs hardly needed a five month spell at Anfield to figure out what Keane was really like.
Otherwise, why would they have approached L'pool to buy him back when they realised he wasn't wanted by Benitez?
Quite simply, from the Director's point of view, Robbie's sale to L'pool was too good a deal to turn down. That is, after signing him from Leeds in a "firesale" for £7million in 2002, they were happy enough with the five years service they had got from to offer him a further 5 year contract in 2007, which he signed. But when L'pool were offering £19m a year later, and the player himself a 50% salary increase, there was only ever going to be one outcome.
Anyhow, the point is that when they heard he hadn't settled at Anfield, it was Spurs who approached L'pool to buy him back a mere five months later, not the other way round, re-signing him for a highly profitable £12 million + add-ons!
Meanwhile, if he's not currently first choice at WHL these days, that is explained by two reasons. First, Defoe (esp) and Crouch are playing out of their skins this season; second, Redknapp has favoured Defoe ever since their days together at WHU.
Then again, these things work both ways. For a period when he was manager, Martin Jol favoured Jermaine Defoe over Robbie, picking JD alongside Berbatov as his first choice strike duo. Then Defoe got injured and RK got his chance. The point is, when Defoe became fit again, he remained on the bench, since Robbie had established himself as Jol's new first choice partner for Berba.
And it's notable, too, with Redknapp needing to sell before he can buy in the present window, he's touting Pavyluchenko all around Europe, but wants to keep Robbie.
Now I would accept that Robbie is more a "scorer of great goals" than a "great goalscorer" (i.e. he is not so prolific as eg a Defoe or a Torres).
Nonetheless, he gets his share, whilst making a greater all-round contribution than other (mere) 'poachers'. Otherwise if it were not so, why do you think so many respected managers at so many top clubs would have paid £75m+ in transfer fees for Robbie down the years?
As for his contribution to ROI, I've not seen enough to express an opinion. Nonetheless, I can't help wondering who would have been leading the line for you over the last 10 years had Robbie never existed. David Connolly? Clinton Morrison? Leon Best? Gary Doherty?
As I said on an NI website recently when some fans were grousing about David Healy, we should all get down on our knees each evening and thank God for having him.
If I were an ROI fan (:eek:), I suspect I'd be doing the same for Robbie Keane.