For some reason i think Robbie kinda resembles Tim Roth circa Reservior Dogs.
That was impressively statuesque by Bruce, the only giveaway was a barely perceptible flutter from his eyelids.
For some reason i think Robbie kinda resembles Tim Roth circa Reservior Dogs.
No Somos muchos pero estamos locos.
http://thescore.thejournal.ie/robbie...47092-Mar2014/
Keane signs new contract with mickey mouse team.
If we had a 24 year old at that Mickey Mouse team with the same goal record and receiving the same general acclaim, would you be denying the logic in his call up maintaining instead that Long needs to start against good teams, and then Stokes?
Robbie's stats.
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Though it does beg the question, why did they forget his time at Inter?
He had 11 in 41 in his second spell at Spurs, not 11 in 19.
Its really not that complicated!!!
Course not. I just don't think he should be guaranteed a starting place in every game on the basis of his performances in the MLS. If he had opted to move to Besiktas when he had the chance instead of making a lifestyle choice and was banging in the goals in The Super Lig, or if he had taken a move to stay in the competitive Premier League then there wouldn't be a question.
I think Keane should be starting some games but I think it would be a mistake to start him in others. Shane Long is our #1 striker. We have to find a way to play Wes Hoolahan and/or Andy Reid. It's going to be hard to accommodate Keane and do that. We have seen the evidence that it does not work already.
I think it would be a mistake to hitch our wagon to Keane just for the sake of it.
I hope O'Neill is brave enough to make the tough decisions.
The choice did not exist for Robbie between Besiktas or the MLS.
The choice in August 2010 was go to Besiktas or stay in the EPL, it was a last day of the transfer window move by Besiktas to get Robbie, he chose to stay in the EPL, either win back his place in the pecking order at Spurs or move to another epl club.
Robbie had fewer options in 2011.
Keane is our number one striker. A fact cemented by Shane Longs finishing on Wednesday. Goals are what matter. Not flick-ons, work rate or running the channels. Keane gets goals. Simples.
I hope O'Neill has the judgment to do the right thing, not to make controversial decisions for the sake of it.
I don't think we have seen evidence that Keane can't play with Reid or Hoolahan. He hasn't played with Reid for donkeys' years and his only recent game with Hoolahan was against Georgia and they both did well. I think Hoolahan missed the Faroes game but against Georgia Keane did markedly better than Long.
I fully accept that he should be by no means an automatic starter and I have always said (take note Stu!) that Long is a beast to play against, but I think the best way to combine any combinations of Reid, Hoolahan, Keane and Long to the team's benefit is a question that still has to be answered.
I think there is a good argument not to play Keane in those games where we're likely to struggle for possession. Long might just be more effective in a game where we're battling just to stay close. He has more energy and presence. But this is subtly different to your point that Keane's scoring record against top seeds is what mitigates against his selection.
I suggested on another thread that maybe we need to drop our addiction to two proper wide men and some degree of 4132 or 4312 might be the answer , especially against teams we feel we have a real chance of beating.
These are the things O'Neill needs to be thinking about. I'd be surprised if Monkeano can't figure out what the options are at least. That said, 6 years ago I had confidence Trap would be able to come up with something other than route one.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 08/03/2014 at 3:01 PM.
Had a last minute penalty saved last night for L.A.Galaxy in their opening game of the season. Galaxy lost 1-0.
No composure in one on ones!
demonstrated his lack of composure in one-on-ones again earlier with this equaliser for LA Galaxy: http://www.lagalaxy.com/blog/post/20...real-salt-lake
If we are pinning our hopes on someone because of his prowess against League Two standard defences then we are in trouble.
Robbie Keane and his 34 year old legs are not going to be able to put away the kind of chances that Wes Hoolahan, Andy Reid and Stephen Ireland are capable of engineering and if there is tangible proof to the contrary in the last 3 or 4 years, by all means indulge me.
Whether Shane Long can or can't put them away is another thing but he has the pace, ability and footballing intelligence to make those runs.
Keane is going to get on the end of things and if we want to go down the route of putting Kevin Doyle, Jon Walters, Shane Long or Daryl Murphy up top and have them contest high balls and get drawn out wide doing the donkey work to try and engineer chances for Keane then so be it but it's counterintuitive imo.
Edit: And Macedonia. I know.
I never said we were pinning our hopes on him, I just posted a link to a goal
Keane's 33, although he'll be 34 when the qualifiers start. There's evidence from as recently as three weeks ago that Long will not put away the chances created by Hoolahan. The consensus afterwards was that Keane would have scored at least two, if not all three, of the gilt-edged changes presented to Long.
counterintuitive to what, exactly?
So, there is tangible proof to the contrary in the last 3 or 4 years?
I don't think Keane would have been any more likely than Long to put away those chances, imo based on what I have seen in the last three Qualifying campaigns. Only one of them was a sitter and anyway, he still scored.
Counterintuitive in that we would have to make hard decisions about players like Hoolahan, Reid, Ireland and Long to get the best out of Keane and the temptation would be there to go back to the clogging route 1 that got us so far and then backfired in a slow and predictable fashion.
Tangible, or substantive - as in more than one game, which was against a poor enough Macedonia team.
Going down this road again?
You say Keane wouldn't have gotten on the end of those chances? That's your opinion, not fact.
We say otherwise. This argument has to stop.
Plus mentioning Stephen Ireland as being an integral part of the team's success should now be an infraction.
Ireland isn't and won't be in the squad. To say that Robbie won't put away these mythical chances that the Corkonian Wally will apparently create is actually insane.
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
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