What a statement.
I've skipped half of this
thread because I'm not interested in reading some of the typical rubbish that is posted on this forum about Robbie
Keane.
This is a man that has just entered his eleventh season of first team football. He is approaching 150 career goals at club level. He's averaged approximately 14 goals a season during his club career. That's not bad considering that he spent the majority of the 2001/02 season on the bench at Leeds. He's had five seasons at Spurs during which he's scored 79 goals in 143 games. He's been voted by the fans as the Player of the Season in three out of the five seasons. Last season, he lost out to the outstanding Berbatov, but still managed to score more than 20 goals.
Is that really the form of the
"most over rated footballer of his time". If we have three or four better forwards then name them for us please...
Or perhaps you're comparing Robbie to some of his peers in the Premiership? Would you swap
Keane for Craig Bellamy (the man who replaced him at Coventry)? Bellamy has a career average of 8 goals per season.
Or how about Alan Smith who
Keane jostled with for a place in Dave O'Leary's Leeds team? Again, Smith has averaged approximately 8 goals per season in his career.
How about Jermain Defoe - the man who
Keane has outshone at Spurs? Defoe has scored 53 goals in his 143 appearances for the club, a rate that is not as impressive as
Keane's.
For what its worth, I would have preferred if Richard Dunne had been made the Ireland captain. Also, I've believed for some time that Ireland should play a 4-5-1 formation away to the Slovaks and Czechs in September, primarily because I'm concerned that a 4-man midfield will get over-run away from home. As such, I would play Doyle up front on his own because of his power and pace. Robbie could be introduced as a sub in the second half.
I thought Robbie had a couple of good cameos last night, including a clean tackle where he had to work hard to track back.
Unfortunately, due to the attitude of some people, I think Robbie
Keane is the type of player who's ability and contribution to Irish football will only be understood when he retires.
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