Roy Keane retired from International football

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Originally Posted by Marked Man

Certainly one of our best players, that I've seen play. Would rate Brady and McGrath a notch above him though.
Glad to see him go though. Cleans the slate from Saipan.

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AFAIC he came back, if there was anything on the slate it was cleaned. I keep telling my wife, if it happened over 6 months ago you can't use it.
Even in his 1/2 crocked state he was seriously missed in our last 2 games. The only good thing about his departure is that in his last game for Ireland we are left with a fresh memory of the 'stormer' against the French.
If I had a choice of another 2 years with Roy as captain or the nr. 1 manager on the fantasy wish list , O'Neill, I would pick Roy. Of all the holes left in our team now, centre midfield is by far the emptiest.

He WAS wrong to do what he did in Saipan. He should have stayed and aired his grievances after the tournament. I'm sure he realised that in hindsight. However there is no doubt he was one of the best players ever to put on an Irish shirt. Even those of you who are bitter towards him for Saipan know deep down he was a great player for us and was missed and will be missed by OUR team. Good luck to him I hope he returns as Our manager some day.

Really sorry to see him go. IMO and without a second thought the best player ever to wear an Irish shirt.
Thanks Roy

Fcuk Saipan. Its a stinky sh1te hole with lots of car parks and little grass. People got their wires crossed over there. Time to forget it.

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Originally Posted by RedX

This is why its hard to take some posters on the forum serious with such silly comments like this...Brady was a very good player and McGrath was a great International for Ireland..but to rate them above Keane is a joke..Keane has been one of the best midfielders in the world for the last ten years..

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Its an opinion, not a silly comment. Thats what forums are all about. The idea that Mcgrath and Brady were better than Keane is not a joke. IMHO McGrath was the greatest player ever to don the Green. Others might say Keane, others Brady. Theres nothing silly about any of these views. All of them could be backed up quite easily.

Absolute Legend, without doubt the most influential player ever to wear green. Thanks for memories ROY..

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Originally Posted by RedX

This is why its hard to take some posters on the forum serious with such silly comments like this...Brady was a very good player and McGrath was a great International for Ireland..but to rate them above Keane is a joke..Keane has been one of the best midfielders in the world for the last ten years..

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McGrath was just better than Keane. No joke. Fact. To say this is not to say that Keane wasn't one of our best ever players (in case you missed this part of my silly post, I explicitly said this). He just wasn't better than McGrath. I know you Cork folks have difficulty with this, but it's the truth.

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Originally Posted by geysir

AFAIC he came back, if there was anything on the slate it was cleaned. I keep telling my wife, if it happened over 6 months ago you can't use it.
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I'm not using it, at least not in the sense of using it against Keane. The fact is that ever since 2002, Keane has been a divisive figure, amongst fans if not amongst the team itself. For confirmation of this you only have to look at the tone of several of the posts following mine that are indignant that someone would even dare to suggest that there might be an upside to Keane going.
The fact that he is a divisive figure is what I was referring to when I said his going would clean the slate from Saipan. That aspect of his going, if not the hole in central midfield that he leaves, can only be good.

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Originally Posted by Marked Man

McGrath was just better than Keane. No joke. Fact. To say this is not to say that Keane wasn't one of our best ever players (in case you missed this part of my silly post, I explicitly said this). He just wasn't better than McGrath. I know you Cork folks have difficulty with this, but it's the truth.

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On a world stage how many people would hold keane ahead of McGrath? A vast vast majority.
Why was it that Roy played with top teams in comparison to the teams Mcgrath played with? Top players play for top teams
For Mcgrath to be ahead Keane wouldnt he have been the more succesful? Just count the medals they both have and McGrath aint more successful.

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Originally Posted by Ringy

On a world stage how many people would hold keane ahead of McGrath? A vast vast majority.
Why was it that Roy played with top teams in comparison to the teams Mcgrath played with? Top players play for top teams
For Mcgrath to be ahead Keane wouldnt he have been the more succesful? Just count the medals they both have and McGrath aint more successful.

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The point being discussed is not who was the most successful player (measured by medals won) but who was the better player.

Players do not win medals on their own, they do so as part of a team, so by that measure there is no doubt Keane played in more successful sides than McGrath. However that does not make Keane a better player than McGrath.

Similarly, Keane did not qualify Ireland for the 2002 World Cup Finals on his own, as many have suggested. In every game, he had at least 10 others playing with him and while he may have played excellently in all the qualifying games, he did not do it on his own!

I am not sure everyone would agree that top players play for top teams or to be a top player you have to play for a top team. Shay Given is a prime example!

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Originally Posted by Ringy

On a world stage how many people would hold keane ahead of McGrath? A vast vast majority.
Why was it that Roy played with top teams in comparison to the teams Mcgrath played with? Top players play for top teams
For Mcgrath to be ahead Keane wouldnt he have been the more succesful? Just count the medals they both have and McGrath aint more successful.

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I might be willing to concede the point if you'll also concede that anyone who has ever won more than one champions' league/European cup medal is better than RMK (for example, every member of the Notts Forest team that won two Euro Cups).

Didn't think so.

I wish Roy all the best, he truly was a great Irish player, I wish McCarthy had not SENT him home from Saipan, McCarthy has sullied the name of one of the greatest players in his own country.

Personally I think Keane should hang in their for another 2 years as centre mid is not looking good for us at the moment.

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Originally Posted by Schlooooomp

......McCarthy has sullied the name of one of the greatest players in his own country.....

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No matter what or who's version you listen to or read there is no way you can draw that conclusion. It was Keane who sullied his own name with his tirade of vile verbal abuse of McCarthy who had no option only to send him home.

Even now, more than three years later, not one of the other players who was in the room at the time has come out to support Keane or even to empathise with him.

You should also remember that regardless of his feelings towards McCarthy, Keane has never expressed any regrets about the fact that his outburst resulted in him letting down his team, his country and the supporters.

Keane's name was sullied OK, but only by himself.

http://www.themuppet.utvinternet.com/keano/

I'm really not bothered getting into the Saipan argument. Roy Keane was the finest Irish player I ever had the privilege to see in the flesh - Paul McGrath, Kevin Moran and Liam Brady were slightly before my time. He's clearly not the most pleasant or easy-going of men but who cares?

I watched Ireland play Holland in Fiona's, an Irish bar on the upper east side of Manhattan. For as long as I live, I will never forget his performance that day and as a supporter I couldn't ask for more from him.

Thanks for the memories Roy - the end of one hell of an era.

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Originally Posted by Donal81

Thanks for the memories Roy - the end of one hell of an era.

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In my opinion Keane's lasting legacy to Irish international football is that he has caused it untold damage.

His utterance "I don't do friendlies" for a start demeaned international football.

Saipan: "Fail to prepare - prepare to fail". Well we've just seen how the best prepared team in Irish football got on even with the master coming back from his self-imposed exile.

Early retirement from playing for his country has now given cretins like Carr an excuse to follow his example.

When he turned up (for competitive games unless he was suspended due to a needless booking) he gave 100%. No doubt about that and was a superb player. That was in his nature. However, I think his overall attitude to representing his country compared to playing for his club (where he did do friendlies) has damaged international football at a time when it is seriously under threat from major clubs. I suspect the Carr retirement is just the tip of the iceberg.

And for those who want to see him managing the country, I ask the question will he turn up for the friendlies? He'll be missed as a player. I shall not miss him as a person.

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Originally Posted by Ringy

On a world stage how many people would hold keane ahead of McGrath? A vast vast majority.
Why was it that Roy played with top teams in comparison to the teams Mcgrath played with? Top players play for top teams
For Mcgrath to be ahead Keane wouldnt he have been the more succesful? Just count the medals they both have and McGrath aint more successful.

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My votes for McGrath. Brady was a bit before my time so can't really comment.

And I'll obviously stop questioning Finnan and O'Shea as obviously playing for Liverpool and Man United makes them world class.

Sad to see him go, thanks for the memories Roy. Delighted he went out with a good display against the French, he was head and shoulders above the rest I thought, even the most anti-Roy person I know (Joesemi) agreed. I think in the fullness of time he will regret Saipan, but I think its time we all moved on from it now, the two protagonists in the story have left the stage. Its sad that two men who I have so much respect for split the nation but such is football and I've no idea where I'm going with this post so that it!

Thanks Roy.

[QUOTE=Don Vito] Saipan, ...its time we all moved on from it now, the two protagonists in the story have left the stage. QUOTE]


My point exactly.

Agreed, everyone has their own opinion on Saipan-gate and it's possibly the best aggro-drunk conversation topic even to this day. :D

Bustup or no bustup, he's the greatest Irish player I have seen in my lifetime (sorry Ooh-Aah) and deserves a thanks even from his harshest critics.

His sheer will to win must be his greatest talent, and he can also knock a ball around the park pretty well too :)