Robbie Keane

[Irish_Praha]

Carried on where he left off early this morning with the second goal in a 2-0 win for the galaxy in their first game of the season

Highlights of the game here: http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2015/03...r-chicago-fire
Nice finish

My god what annoying commentators. I couldn't listen to them for much longer than that 3 min clip.

[Charlie Darwin]

If Keane was a British player with the same international accomplishments he'd be knighted! I'm drawing a blank on a similar recognition over here, Freedom of Tallaght maybe!

Could name a stand after him.

[tetsujin1979]

Could name a stand after him.

there was talk for a while that the stadium would be named after him! Definitely remember reading it on rte.ie but I can't find the story now

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Any chance Keane would play for Shamrock Rovers before he retires? He said he wants to play into his forties.

Hey. Nobody thought Duff would want to play LOI and people dismissed the idea of Miller going home.

[Macy]

Hey. Nobody thought Duff would want to play LOI and people dismissed the idea of Miller going home.

Except all the people that listened to Duff over the years say he wanted to play LoI before he retired!

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

In fairness, I think he only started saying that shortly before he went to Australia.

I am open to correction on that now.

[DeLorean]

TOWK - you should just make 'I am open to correction on that' your signature

[Charlie Darwin]

In fairness, I think he only started saying that shortly before he went to Australia.

I am open to correction on that now.

No, he said it when he was at Newcastle if I remember correctly. They played Rovers in a pre-season friendly and got a bit of stick from the crowd so he joked he wouldn't be signing for them.

[tetsujin1979]

Robbie Keane's goal nominated for MLS goal of the week: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/articl...al-week-week-1
Vote early, vote often

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Kevin Kilbane says Robbie Keane "must start" against Poland.

Link on 42.ie. Would post only i am on mobile.

[Closed Account]

Kevin Kilbane says Robbie Keane "must start" against Poland.

Link on 42.ie. Would post only i am on mobile.

http://www.the42.ie/kevin-kilbane-ir...84201-Mar2015/
Probably on about this.

Kilbane goes on to say that Shay should start. The arguments for Keane or Given to start are small. Personally I don't think they are the difference between winning and losing and it's hard to argue that they are. Eventually we have to rely on other players. Personally, I wouldn't start Keane or bring him on from the bench.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Keane defends celebration; behavior during Chicago game.

http://www.espnfc.com/major-league-s...-aimed-at-fans

"A million percent, it wasn't at the fans," said Keane, who spoke to the media after a training session at StubHub Center. "So whoever said that, you can't speculate on something you don't know. It's not a big deal. It's nothing. It's passion.

"I've got passion. I've got passion," he said. "I want to win all the times. I want things to be better. I do a lot of things sometimes to get everybody going in a different way. That's my way of doing things. I do it on the training field, I do it on the field. I'll always continue to do that."

Although Keane's Galaxy came out on top, the captain was visibly frustrated throughout the course of the game, as the team struggled to find a collective rhythm and put the visiting Fire away in their season opener.

Balboa, and fellow UniMas commentator Diego Balado, suggested the behavior was disrespectful to fans and Galaxy players and that Keane should no longer be captain of the team.

[DannyInvincible]

Stephanie Roche has her say on that remark of Robbie's a few years ago: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31110297.html

Four years ago, Robbie Keane was his usual, honest self when he proclaimed he would walk away from international football if someone more worthy took the number 10 shirt off him.

“It is all about now and I've said before if I didn't play for Ireland and someone else came in, I have always said I would walk away,” he said at the time.

At the time, some argued that Keane was throwing his toys out of the pram and threatened to stop playing for his beloved country if he was not picked. I was in no doubt that Keane simply meant he would gladly give the jersey to a more deserving prospect.

Maybe it didn’t come out the way he would have liked, but does anyone really think that Robbie Keane is a man who would walk away from international football because he is not starting?

For anyone who even thinks that, Keane didn’t start in Scotland.

It’s testament to the great Keano that, four years later, here we are still talking about our main striker. I have always admired Keane. Not just his undoubted ability to find the back of the net, but also his honesty, on and off the pitch.

That interview four years ago was his genuine honesty shining through but maybe the time has come to fulfil that promise. Keane still has so much to offer his country but those aging legs will not get any quicker. The time has come for something fresh in attack.

While Shane Long’s lack of competitive goals for Ireland is alarming, it should also be noted that he has only started a handful of competitive games for his country.

I have dreaded the day I was going to say this, but it’s time to fulfil that promise of four years ago and make way for someone else Robbie.

...

[DeLorean]

He's obviously going to see this campaign through so it's up to O'Neill if he plays or not. I don't see the sense in expecting him to "make way".

[Charlie Darwin]

Ireland star SLAMS message board poster

[OwlsFan]

Stephanie Roche has her say on that remark of Robbie's a few years ago: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31110297.html

Ghost written, probably by TOWK. In fact she could be TOWK.

Football is such a knee-jerk reaction sport. Long is now the messiah because he scored off a defender's shin. He couldn't hit a barn door before that in previous games. I am not sure his 1 in 4 games ratio at club and country level (albeit many as sub) is enough but we're caught between a rock and a hard place. An aging record goal scorer or a forward with pace who might get one every 4 games. I'll leave MON to sort that one out but as regards Robbie I am drawn to the quote of Mark Twain: "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated".

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Shane Long has been more effective than Robbie Keane over the last 3 odd years. It's not a knee-jerk reaction. This isn't one bad match Keane had. This is a frequent occurrence - and one that is unlikely to change considering he turns 35 in the summer. Long, when given the chance, has been one of our best players against teams like Serbia & Italy and has actually had the footballing intelligence so many here accuse him of lacking, and the pace, to anticipate and get on the end of his (Hoolahan) passes. He has also proven more than capable of forming respected strike partnerships with players like Odemwingie & Jelavic or leading the line and dragging defenders around.

"....couldn't hit a barn door before that in previous games". Yeah yeah pull the other one. 1 in 3 starts in the Premier League is a record any modern footballer outside the top 7 teams would be proud to have and better than 1 in 2 starts at International level likewise.

Who is calling him the "messiah".

He's a better, more pragmatic, option than Keane. And pretty much anyone in the game would agree with that sentiment.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Approximately a year later and the cyber bully is still picking on me because of my opinions on those comments? Water under the bridge. Beg to differ. Respect your opinion and I respect yours eh.

Build a bridge.

I knew fully well that would be happening when I seen Stephanie's column on The Indo.

I respect her opinion anyway. Eloquent, modest woman who doesn't have an ego on her despite her myriad accomplishments within the game.

I hope she writes more.

[DannyInvincible]

Approximately five months later, Robbie is still accepting call-ups for us and hasn't walked off in a huff despite having been dropped in Glasgow. He said in an interview with RTÉ pre-Poland game that there was no tension whatsoever between himself and Martin over the latter's decision to drop him for the Scotland game (in spite of RTÉ's best efforts to make some drama out of it with the silly Saipan-style dread music over a video clip of Martin and Robbie walking into the Celtic Park dressing room) and that he was prepared to fulfill whatever was expected of him. Give the man the credit and respect he deserves. Not all opinions deserve to be treated equally.

In related news, Stephen Hunt wants Robbie benched if we wish to employ our most effective system: http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-31118813.html

There are times when it can get pretty frustrating being on the field with Robbie Keane. I’ve sometimes played a pass to Robbie and the next thing his arms are thrown up in frustration, with the whole crowd believing that the ball didn’t meet the required standard.

I’d often stand there and think ‘why don’t you just run after it, Robbie?’

...

The problem for Robbie is that I don’t think he can score in the system Ireland played last weekend and I think it’s Ireland’s most effective system. Things changed against Poland when Jonathan Walters moved up front because then there was a presence there and maybe that can help Robbie, although last week it didn’t.

...

Under O’Neill, I think Ireland will vary it. But whatever they do, they need a front man who is suited to the system. It might be sacrilege to say it, but goals are not enough. Robbie Keane needs to provide them from the bench and Ireland need to look to a future which could yet be promising.

[DannyInvincible]

That interview between Tony O'Donoghue and Robbie was at 24:30 here: http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10396356/

The whole feature was even more ridiculous than I remember. Check out the camera zooming in on footage of Darragh's pixelated face to emphasise the supposed ominous nature of what he's saying as he was announcing the news that Robbie would be on the bench in Glasgow.



This was Robbie's response when Tony asked him how he felt about being left out:

No, I'm fine about it. What you have to understand is that the manager has a big choice to make and you have to respect his decision and what he believes is going to help the team at that moment in time. So, as you get older and as you get more experience, you kind of understand the game a bit more and, as you're captain as well, you have to make sure you're leading by example on the field and off the field. I wasn't happy with not playing; of course not. You want to play every game. The way I reacted was in a positive way that maybe I wouldn't have done a few years ago. I was certainly making sure I was doing the right thing for the team because the team comes first.

And before anyone cherrypicks that "maybe I wouldn't have done a few years ago" bit, that doesn't equate to him saying he might have hung his boots up in a huff if the same had happened earlier. He's just telling us that he has matured as a player and that he is dealing with the situation maturely, as he, most likely (bar an unlikely "maybe not"), always would have done. Robbie has always been able to appreciate that the manager's decisions and the team are bigger than he is.