Anyone see any comments from Kenny about Will Keanu’s week with the squad and his impact? Haven’t seen anything myself but would be interested in whether Kenny feels he’s an option.
Searched for a Will Keane thread and this is what came up so I thought I'd resurrect it, as there's nothing more recent - we must have always discussed him in the potentially eligible players thread. As he has got his passport, declared for us and been called up, I guess we should now talk about him in his own thread. Anyway he got his sixth goal in twelve games today, along with an assist for one of McClean's goals - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58853258. I thought his call-up was kind of pointless, given that he will be 30 before we start another qualifying campaign and he's still only playing in League One. But I've given it some thought and I can see a case for him being brought into the fold - he is likely to be active for the next two campaigns and he is now starting to score regularly at a reasonable level. And in fairness, while his career to date hasn't been anywhere near as stellar as his youth career suggested it might be, he has been hampered by two serious injuries, losing about two and a half seasons.
So if he continues his good form and it looks like he might move up a level for 2022/23, then perhaps he might be given a shot in whatever friendlies we play next year and, if that goes well, in The Nations League.
Last edited by samhaydenjr; 16/10/2021 at 8:21 PM.
Anyone see any comments from Kenny about Will Keanu’s week with the squad and his impact? Haven’t seen anything myself but would be interested in whether Kenny feels he’s an option.
6 ⚽️ and 3 🅰️ in 15 league games now this season so far for the 28 year old.
Good work and este. In orher news Sheridan broke his tendon
I know not everyone has been thrilled with his call ups in the past or the suggestion he could play ahead of our younger prospects, but I have serious respect for the guy that he's still trying to make a go of it despite all of his injury problems.
If Keane can push on now and get in a few good years, you know he will play with a special kind of hunger. I'm cheering for him and hope he can force the issue and become an option for us.
I dont like the squad name wise, but on the paper doesnt matter if you cant create a COHESIVE 11, and thats what we need a COHESIVE 11 to compete, of course I would have added other players for my liking
Sean McDermott
Connor Ronan
Shane Long
James McCarthy
Sadly Cillian Sheridan has 4 months on the sidelines
Hogan is deserved there more than Keane or Collins at this time if is based on performance
Completely agree and agree about Ronan too. He’s been incredibly impressive at St Mirren so far, probably more so than McGrath to be honest.
Yeah. I think Kenny doesnt want to try a bit he got with his tried and trusted
Ninth of the season and second in two games, along with a very good assist for Wigan's second goal in their win over Plymouth - they are up to second in a very tight race, but have games on hand on those around them. Capping him is starting to look like it was a reasonably good idea, at least.
Sorry, didn't mean we were right to cap him just to tie him down (I don't think we should do that with anyone), just that it was a good idea to get him bedded in with the aim of using him in the next campaign if he keeps his current form up, and particularly if Wigan get promoted. I've gone back and forth on my feelings about Keane. Based on his youth record, I initially thought he would be a good capture if we lost out on Kane and Bamford. Then he had a series of underwhelming loans but I thought "well, he's still young". So when Hull paid a million pounds for him, I thought that there was still a decent chance for him to be a high quality player. And then he suffered a serious injury which ruined his time there. So I was still hopeful when he went to Ipswich aged twenty-six that he still had time to have a good career. But, while he had one good patch there, he didn't exactly pull up trees. So when he got let go and got picked up by Wigan on a free, as they tried to rebuild on the cheap after administration, I had pretty much ruled out him being a factor in our plans, particularly with the young strikers we had coming through. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Kenny called him up - I mean he's going to be thirty by the time he plays in his second major tournament qualifier.
But I considered him as an option again - he's been scoring at a rate of one in two since April, none of our youngsters have yet made a major breakthrough stick and Keane will only be 33 in 2026, so he could be available for two campaigns at least. So let's see how the next few months go for him and maybe give him some time in friendlies next year and perhaps the Nations League next summer
Scored for Wigan tonight as they go 3-0 away to Oldham in the League Cup before half-time.
Means he's on 11 for the season - the same as last year. But last year was 34 games and this year is just 26 games so far.
Usual reservations about the third tier, but it's his first real run of senior games in his career and he's delivering. Might be worth a start in March.
I was amazed and disappointed at his first call up tbh. It’s looking more and more like a smart move though. I’d like to see a bit more of him.
Shows how stuck we are for forward options though that his is a stat worth multiple comments on!
Cos it's not really. But it is for us.
Continues to make his case for inclusion in the squad, in the short-term at least, with his twelfth in all competitions this season: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/59918729
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