QuoteNo doubt Keane's stats were peppered with penalties, late goals against beaten sides and tap-ins against lowly teams.
Frank Stapleton remains the king of all our top level strikers with about 8 or 9 double figure seasons.
Doyle reached double figures once (13) in 06/07. He fell one goal short with Wolves in 09/10. Keane reached double figures seven seasons running up until and including 08/09.
No doubt Keane's stats were peppered with penalties, late goals against beaten sides and tap-ins against lowly teams.
Frank Stapleton remains the king of all our top level strikers with about 8 or 9 double figure seasons.
And a fair-minded, well-balanced, person would accept that the argument I was making came at a time when Keane's productivity and end-product for Ireland was diminishing, and when Walters (who I also apparently despise) and Long were more deserving of playing time up front.Originally Posted by geysir
They would also see that the last of his double-figure seasons at a high level came in 08/09.
I'm not going to say any more about his goalscoring record against first, second and third-seeded teams at competitive Intl. level. I posted the stats and people can take whatever they want from it.
Fantastic player in his prime, Paris, Estonia, can still make a contribution, goals against potential bogey teams like Macedonia have been huge but it doesn't make him some sacred goat that cannot be held to the same constructive criticism as any one else.
And come on. I never said anything about "late goals against beaten sides" or "tap-ins against lowly teams" and if I did it was probably a deliberate response to some asinine criticism of Long or Doyle because they "don't score enough from the bench", or "don't score enough goals when they are doing the donkey work for someone else" - Emile Heskey syndrome.
Last edited by TheOneWhoKnocks; 02/05/2016 at 12:50 PM.
http://www.the42.ie/thierry-henry-hi...46421-May2016/“For me, the man-of-the-match was Shane Long,” he said.
“I know he didn’t score the hat-trick, I know he wasn’t involved in a lot of the stuff, but with some of his runs, he got them going in every way… He was outstanding.”
Henry also added that City allowed Long, Sadio Mane and Dusan Tadic to “look like Messi, Suarez and Neymar today”.
I hate the man, but I must admit he talks sense.
Bit of preview of the 18th of June in WHL today. Shane Long lone striker against 2 likely defensive starters for Belgium. He's done well, has gotten ahead of Toby and Jan on 1 occasion each. Service to him hasn't been as good as it was against Man City. Had a great chance to score back post header but seemed to take his eye off it at the last second under pressure from Rose. 7.5/10, about as good as anyone else on the pitch.
Fair play to Lloris for making nothing of that. Long actually tried to avoid full on impact having seen Lloris late, but in real time Lloris could have made it look worse.
Spurs playing a high line so Long seeing plenty of half-chances to get in. Provan said his earlier cushioned header, trying to bring down a long ball, was poor but taking that ball down and onto goal would have required an amazing first touch.
Careless pass inside just there.
Rose just tried to get him sent off. I'd have been happy if it worked!
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 08/05/2016 at 2:30 PM.
He also set up Ward-Prowse with a decent pass inside from a break. He was a little sloppy at times and his header at the back post should have been a goal but he really is a difficult player for defenders to defend against.
He seems to play a lot of games where he plays the full 90 which is a good sign but also a risky proposition. I was worried after his clash with Lloris as it looked like it could have hurt both. And it certainly would have if he had gone in with his foot instead of going to ground.
He's great to watch.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Souness said he was a pest to play against.
Yes, Souness doesn't have the legs anymore
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
What club managers doubted him? He was automatic first choice at Reading, West Brom, Hull and now Southampton. The reason he kept moving is because teams were paying £6m and £11m for him.
Last season and his first few seasons at Reading as a youngster aside, he has always been first pick.
His problem is consistently that Intl managers keep picking inferior players in positions he can play in.
Nothing wrong with MON's remarks at all. He wasn't always first choice at Hull as far as I can recall and you yourself used to criticise Koeman for not picking him more. You highlight a few seasons at Reading and a full season at Southampton. You could add a decent spell of this season and parts of his hull tenure too.
Just admit that he is in the form of his life right now and is deservedly first pick for club and country.
Interestingly enough about Shane Long, his goal to game ratio is pretty consistent across all of his club appearances, including as sub, with about 1 goal in every 4 games. It is hard to say whether Long has ever really been "first choice" (i.e. automatic starter) for his clubs. He has an excellent start to sub ratio (2 starts in 3 appearances for Soton, 100% for Hull, 3 starts in 4 appearances for WBA) in his premiership career but, without digging into the overall games that his clubs have played during those times, I dont think I could confidently state that he has always been an automatic starter as TOWK claims above.
Where we do agree, I think, is that Long should have been first choice for country long before 2016. He did enough in a sometimes stuttering premiership career and ridiculously limited international appearances to be found a starting spot in the team. For all that he has taken his game to another level this year, he was always a terror to play against, had genuine pace and had always shown the ability to put a fair number of his chances away at international level.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
Another case of what if, just like Hoolahan.
What if he was starting three campaigns ago like he should have been.
29 now. We'll be lucky if we get the best Shane Long for a full two campaigns. Especially with the way he plays. Look at what it done to players like Doyle and Torres.
It's worth noting that variables such as Alan Hutton trying to do him contributed to his sub appearances for West Brom as well.
Stat attack Longs best position is attacking central midfielder!!
Position Apps Goals Assists Rating
FW (Forward Centre) 16 6 3 7.21 Sub (Substitute) 5 1 0 6.41 AMC (Attacking Midfielder Centre) 3 2 1 7.41 AMR (Attacking Midfielder Right) 2 1 0 6.78 AML (Attacking Midfielder Left) 1 0 0 6.36
It is only based on 3 games though
Except Stutts he hasn't been first choice for his country. I think he only started one game in all the qualifiers and play offs, whereas Murphy started 2 or 3 ahead of Shane. In what other football universe would Murphy be selected ahead of Long?
MON's remarks about Long don't convince me at all. Even at this stage we still don't know if MON will select Long to start in the first game of the Euros.
This is really all that needs to be said.
I like high energy football. A little bit rock and roll. Many finishes instead of waiting for the perfect one.
And in that one game in Glasgow he was very poor! But that's not the point. The argument is that he has been tragically underused in favour of lesser players down the years and his lack of game time has cost him the chance to have been a highly accomplished international long before now. He'd been an even better player for us now if we had used him more in the past. I'd dispute that.
I wouldn't dispute that he is way better than Murphy but Murphy hasn't been picked over Long that many times, and when he was he was a prolific Championship scorer, or had been in very recent history. And by hook or by crook it worked against Germany. Being a prolific scorer in Championship or SPL is something TOWK puts a lot of stock in.
I think Long should have started more in this campaign but Walters stepped up to the plate for us. Long impressed from the bench. A past his best Keane put the minnows to the sword. By and large it all worked.
The arguments are hysterical and OTT.
The team is better now than a year ago. I think Long is a better player now than a year ago. I'd bet you anything Ronald Koeman agrees.
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