The Chants of Keano

History has a habit of repeating itself. Ferguson walked off the pitch last night with chants of "Keano, Keano" ringing in his ears from many United fans after his team's failure to beat Villareal. Gordon McQueen in the Sky studio didn't like the chants at all. I vividly remember Mick McCarthy's last game ended in similar circumstances at home to the Swiss. Unlike McCarthy, I think Ferguson will survive his falling out with Keane but he has certainly built a rod for his own back. I did smile though when I heard the chants - who would have believed it that Ferguson would have ended up in a similar position to McCarthy.

I asked a friend, a Man U supporter, who boycotted Ireland games after Saipan because "the muppets had not supported Roy" whether he would now stop following Man U because Keane's team mates had apparently not stood by Roy in this instance. In fact the silence was deafening. No, he'll continue supporting Man U and they're not muppets. Interesting.

Will we ever see an Irish player with such influence again either at home or in the Premiership ? I doubt it.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Will we ever see an Irish player with such influence again either at home or in the Premiership ? I doubt it.

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I doubt it too. Remarkable influence on the field & extraordinary ability to make the headlines off it.

Was he ever even shortlisted (even top 50) for European player of the year?

Liam Brady.

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Was he ever even shortlisted (even top 50) for European player of the year?

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I'm sure he was but can't prove it.
he was on pele's list of the 100 greatest ever, but that list is a little political in places

isn't the internet great though
27th - 2000
6th - 1999

source
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy.html

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Originally Posted by as_i_say

Liam Brady.

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Is he coming out of retirement? :)


Thanks for the info on Keane.

How often did he win the PFA Player of the Year ? Once in 2000? Seems strange bearing in mind how we hear so often he was the player of the last decade in the Premiership. May be he just wasn't liked by the other players.

Or just wasn't a glamour player.

I'd forgotten Paul McGrath and Liam Brady also won it as well:

http://www.pubquizhelp.34sp.com/spor...ear_award.html

Interesting that nearly all the Young Players of the Year went on to make it. Steve Moran of Southampton I don't remember too well.

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Originally Posted by JamesB

isn't the internet great though
27th - 2000
6th - 1999

source
http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/europa-poy.html

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Liam Brady was in the top 10 for 3 times in a row. The most acclaimed Irish footballer in this European footballer of the year poll.

I've never seen a more talented Irish Footballer than Liam Brady - terrible shame he missed out on playing in the biggest events on the international stage. :)

Keane should have won player of the year every year between 1997 and 2001. I think Ginola won it one year which was a disgrace.

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Keane should have won player of the year every year between 1997 and 2001. I think Ginola won it one year which was a disgrace.

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I totally disagree - Dennis Bergkamp won it in Arsenal's Double Winning Season of 1998 and was throughly deserving of the award. He had an exceptional season, with amazing goals and skill and was without question the most outstanding player during that season. Roy Keane did not deserve the award in that season. You could make a case for other seasons but not that one.

U are right I think Keane was injured for most of that season, and Bergkamp did deserve it. Maybe I should have qualified my statement a bit more but Keane should have a lot more than 1 PFA player of the year in my view.

did anyone hear newstalk on monday morning when brady was saying that keane manipultes the media ...mutv, tom humphries, dunphy....
dunphy was in shock....said 'no one manipulates me!!!, then brady said, 'well you never say anything bad about him' and giles said he used dunphy......it was great

As regards Keanos departure/sacking from Utd, Fergie is now a dead man walking. He is finished at utd. I always thought he would deserve a large degree of loyalty from the fans or the board for all his successes. But he has just opened the floodgates. He now deserves the same loyalty as he recently gave Keane - his voice on the field, his captain, the most important and influential player he ever had, without whom they would never have reached that european cup final, let alone winning all those leagues and cups.

I am glad the utd fans are chanting for keano, I was there the night of mccarthys last game, and the keano chants were the final nail in his coffin. Fergie may not be sacked before his next game, but I would be surprised if he makes it to the end of the season. As soon as they finish the season without winning either the league or european cup he is gone.

Keane may have only come a best placed 6th in the european footballer of the year and won only 1 pfa player of the year award, but I have no doubt that he was the most productive player the premiership ever saw and possibly Utds most important player ever.

Dont know where Roy will end up next, but I reckon he could probably slot in to any back 4 in the premiership (especially Utds) and be better than whats there for at least another couple of seasons.

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

I'd forgotten Paul McGrath and Liam Brady also won it as well:

http://www.pubquizhelp.34sp.com/spor...ear_award.html

Interesting that nearly all the Young Players of the Year went on to make it. Steve Moran of Southampton I don't remember too well.

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And how close O'Shea was to getting it a couple of years ago.:eek:

The crowd at Old Trafford were going to chant his name anyway last night after the news about Keano, and rightly so, he is one of their greatest ever. BUT it was plain to see that utd lacked any, and I mean ANY direction on the pitch last night.
Mark Lawererson said it as it was, they looked like 3 different teams, Defence, Midfield, and Forwards.
They (utd) would not have won the Champions League if Keano had not grabbed the game by the balls, (after been booked, and 2 nil down) and showed them what to do that night.
It seems that no Keano on the pitch means no clue as to what to do. For twelve years, even when he wasn't captain he was their driving force, he won't be replaced over night, that was plain to see too from last nights performance.
You may not like him, you might even call him a b****x, but football was his job, and he did it right. Fair play to him :ball:

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Originally Posted by NeilMcD

Keane should have won player of the year every year between 1997 and 2001. I think Ginola won it one year which was a disgrace.

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Jaysus, get over it man! What a bizzare statement. You listen tot the media far too much. Take a step back and look at the bigger picture

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Originally Posted by OwlsFan

Will we ever see an Irish player with such influence again either at home or in the Premiership ? I doubt it.

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That was the original question.

Brady was far more talented but I've never seen anyone exert as much influence on a game of football as Keane.

You don't need to be able to do a million keepy-uppies to control a game. When we drew 1-1 at home to Portugal Keane was our best defender, best attacker and best forward. Unbelievable performance.

Keane's larger than life aura is because he captained one of the world's most glamourous clubs during a boom time for them & his career was played out in front of a global TV audience. Brady never had anything like that exposure, nor would he have wanted it I'd say. Different eras.

Could you imagine if Brady & Keane played together at their peaks?