Judge for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...rd_M%C3%BCller
His 68 goals includes five against both Albania and Cyprus, four against Switzerland
Judge for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...rd_M%C3%BCller
His 68 goals includes five against both Albania and Cyprus, four against Switzerland
Yeah completely fair. I think there is a narrative around Robbie that he only did it against the lesser nations which is probably unfair. Maybe people remember the hattricks or all the goals against the Faroes but when you look down the list of countries he scored against he covered the bases well. Maybe he dropped off a bit towards the end and that skews people's memories. From 2011 to 2016 the only "good" side he scored against was Sweden. Either way, he was still the one scoring the goals and nobody else comes close for Ireland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...y_Robbie_Keane
21 leagues and 25 cups.
It was levelled at him long before 2011. I never bought it: no one scores that often against the good sides. That's why they're good.
You can't spell failure without FAI
He scored against all the world best
Germany
Spain
Italy
Holland ( 2000 imo Ireland greatest ever goal) it was an amazing team effort away to the Dutch
Ronaldo should equal Keane's record of scoring at least one international goal in 19 consecutive years this year. However, he's nowhere near Keane's record of scoring a goal in competitive internationals in 18 consecutive years - he only scored one goal in 2009, in a friendly against Finland
This is interesting, an interview with the BBC reporter who got a few words from Keane in the airport in Saipan
https://www.the42.ie/roy-keane-inter...68341-May2022/
What does Saipan mean to the next generation of Irish footballers?
https://www.the42.ie/saipan-roy-keane-5770945-May2022/
"Honestly, no. I’d never heard about it. I know Roy Keane. He is the aggressive, angry guy."
Not the legendary midfielder who won everything at club level, not the national hero who dragged us to a tournament through a group of death, but the angry guy. Old Roy must be proud of his legacy there.
You can't spell failure without FAI
Not surprising that it's the three foreign guys who'd never heard of it in fairness. You can see the story being passed down the generations in everyone else, but Romanians/Nigerians 20 years ago wouldn't have been as bothered, and it shows in the answers.
Abankwah was born in 2004, Keane retired in 2006. He probably doesn't even remember him managing Sunderland or his time in charge of Ipswich.
For that generation, and all the ones following it, he's going to be the "aggressive, angry guy" on Sky Sports
It's the same way people have formed their opinions on analysts that they never saw play - Souness, Giles, etc,
Last edited by tetsujin1979; 23/05/2022 at 11:56 AM.
Not really? There's a very clear divide in that article between the guys who said "Yeah, my dad told me all about it and I heard this that and the other" and the guys who said "Don't know anything about it really". I think it's understandable too, so I don't share John83's surprise* at Keane being labelled the "angry guy"
* - he might be just bemused rather than surprised of course.
I think the reference to “foreign guys” is probably not the best way of putting as they are all Irish. They are all from immigrant families snd it’s a fair point that their parents may be less aware / engaged in Irish football history. But in the context of this issue and the insinuations about genuine Irishness in Keane’s alleged comments, it’s a wee bit on the inappropriate/ clumsy side to describe any Irish footballers as being “foreign”
I didn't realise the FAI media guy released a statement that had only been authorised for release under certain circumstances. What a effing tool.
Saipan opened the door to Delaney and his disastrous tenure, and broke a special bond between fans and the MNT. The EPL had already become a threat to the team's popularity but as long as the team was doing well it was very high up in most people's affections and interest, but many Man U and other fans turned on the Irish team after that. That this coincided with the start of the IRFU teams' successful period really harmed the status of the MNT and I think it's only now starting to recover.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 24/05/2022 at 12:33 PM.
The main criticism levelled against Mick, and the FAI, was the lack of preparation. Supporters of Keane pointed out the control that Ferguson had on all aspects of the setup at United, and that nothing was left to chance. There's long passages of Keane's first autobiography that cover prematch meals, or the lack thereof. Was Harry's Challenge to blame for the performance against Austria in 1995? Or was it an aging side who were run ragged at the end of the season? Keane mentioned in the book that McCarthy met him before the start of the 2002 qualifiers to discuss aspects of the preparation like this, but before the first qualifier away to the Netherlands, there was no pasta available for the team in the hotel, and he let the manager know exactly what he thought about this. Keane went back to his room and ordered a pizza IIRC.
Professionalism had come into rugby in 1995, and the benefits of it were starting to show for the provincial sides - Ulster won the Heineken Cup in 1999, Munster reached the final in 2000 and 2002 - and the emergence of players like O'Gara, and O'Driscoll in the national side had led to increased coverage of the game. The national team itself had gone from never finishing higher than fourth in the five nations in the 90's to missing out on the Six Nations to England on points difference in 2001. The Celtic Tiger was starting to roar, and GAA sides like Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary's hurling teams were likewise lauded for their professional approach to an amateur sport. One of the common quotes on this was something like "the GAA are an amateur organisation operating at a professional level, the FAI are a professional organisation operating at an amateur level"
When Kerr was appointed, one of the points about his managerial style that was repeatedly brought up was his attention to detail in preparation for a game - there was a story about how he had a fleet of cars follow the team bus at St Pats in case it broke down, which it did before a game - and that appointing him manager would mean that a situation like Saipan would never occur again.
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