ROBBIE WANTS RAFA - FOOTBALL 365

I-Bleed-White

Tottenham have been plunged into disarray after Robbie Keane reportedly handed in a transfer request after learning of Liverpool's interest in him.


Keane's reputed desire to leave White Hart Lane this summer is a nightmare scenario for Juande Ramos who is now in jeopardy of losing three of the four strikers he began the year with. Jermain Defoe departed for Portsmouth in January, the want-away Dimitar Berbatov is expected to join either Barcelona or Manchester United, so Keane's exit could leave just Darren Bent as the only recognised striker at the club.


The Daily Mail reports that Keane handed in a transfer request three days after Liverpool lodged a player-plus-cash offer in a meeting with Spurs officials on Monday afternoon. Liverpool are described as Keane's 'boyhood idols', while 'Anfield manager Rafa Benitez sees Keane as the ideal strike partner for Euro 2008 match-winner Fernando Torres and is prepared to part with Peter Crouch and around £5million to make it happen.


'As with his pursuit of Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry, though, Benitez is going to have to dig deeper after Tottenham rejected his initial offer and placed a £20m valuation on Keane.'


In a further twist, the Mail claims that Ramos is 'exploring ways of offloading Bent'. However, those plans will surely have to be put on hold as Spurs attempt to keep Keane

I-Bleed-White

**** , BOLLOX, *****

This bit of news has actually wrecked WRECKED my poxy day.

BERBA

I-Bleed-White wrote: »

**** , BOLLOX, *****

This bit of news has actually wrecked WRECKED my poxy day.

I Know robbie has done well for us but would 20m not be a sweet return for a player we bought for 7m...lets face it we dont want crouch so its gonna take a big cash deals for us to part. I'm thinking berba is gonna go to other red scum for around 25m because he doesnt want to stay with us and sunderland are gonna take bent for 12m as ramos clearly doesnt like the look of bent. that leaves us with no strikers and around 55-60m to spend in lieu of strikers we sell..its ironic last year everyone was questioning why we had 4 top quality strikers , in a matter of weeks we might not have any of them left !

seanson

Euro 2008 is over so the silly season has begun.

There is no way that this is true.

Don't read the Daily Mail but it must be a slow news day that they can allow this bull to get print space.

Roy Keane was a Spurs fan but he never signed for Spurs.

Robbie Keane may have been a Liverpool fan but he's Spurs now and will remain so.

curraghyid

the daily mail always have very speculative stories no sign of qoutations anywhere. no sign of this story on ssn either.the phil thompson wish list again.

therecklessone

As I said in the other thread, this story has legs. Much of what is being printed is lifted off message boards.

yiddo

posted by Tottenham Teddy on FTL

Thought i had better post on Keano gate , before it gets out of hand . Keane has NOT requested a move and is looking forward to the new season WITH US, Scoucers have been sniffing that is true , Keane is one of several names they have been sniffing round . This is from my TOP source at the club . I would rate this scare mongering by the papers as usual , gone off Berba now

Dublin Spur

What will be will be.
I trust Ramos to get it right.

mushykeogh

not the end of the world if he does go, especially if we got a nice bit of cash for him. Im sure ramos will not let him go without a suitable replacement lined up.

RingoSpur

This is'nt going to happen, not a chance in my opinion. If there was any truth to this sky sports would have some reference to it on the web or on the tv but they don't. Not saying that sky sports are to be believed all the time but they are a lot more reliable than the mail. So if there was any truth to this i reckon they would be covering it.

KingdomYid

I agree with Ringospur on this one,its not to be believed.

seanson

When it was only the Daily Mail covering the story it didn't appear to have much truth.

But with the BBC now reporting it as well it sounds like Liverpool may be serious. He would be a good striker along side Torres but I can't see it happening.

"The honeymoon was great. Do you know what we should do now. Let's move to Liverpool. It'll be only massive!" Naaah.

mike65

Liverpool did not start this one! They don't have the money anyway. Rafa wants a winger and Barry, and yes a striker - but not a 20 million pound one.

Mike.

therecklessone

mike65 wrote: »

Liverpool did not start this one! They don't have the money anyway. Rafa wants a winger and Barry, and yes a striker - but not a 20 million pound one.

Mike.

Mike, you came sniffing, Keane found out and told Spurs he wants the club to consider the offer.

Keane has not put in a transfer request off his own bat.

mike65

I came sniffing!? I've read this morning in the Irish Times that Liverpool in fact have little interest in Keane while in the Guardian its assumned to be Liverpools work.

Who knows?

Mike.

therecklessone

mike65 wrote: »

I came sniffing!?

You know what I mean.

Mr Alan

wat do people here make of Trappatonis comments today and further speculation about this move?? i didnt initially really think it was anything other than paper talk, i am starting to think differently now though.

therecklessone

I'm not losing any sleep over Trap's comments Al, but others on other sites have their knickers in a twist.

If I'm honest, it is in Ireland's interests to have as many players as possible playing in the CL so that they come up against quality players as often as possible.

If Keane does stay at Spurs I expect the Ireland manager might get a frosty reception at WHL though.

Mr Alan

Do you think he'll stay? honestly

therecklessone

Mr Alan wrote: »

Do you think he'll stay? honestly

My gut feeling is that he'll be sold only if Liverpool meet our valuation, and we most definitely do have a valuation. I do not believe Ramos wants Crouch, and so you'll have to dig a little deeper.

Keane is interested in the move IMO. How interested, and whether he'll be tempted to cause problems as a result of not getting the move is up for debate.

One consideration: if Keane doesn't ask for a move, he'll be entitled to a loyalty bonus as a result of his sale, so even with Crouch as part of a deal we'll want significant cash to offset that.

Mr Alan

christ this stinks of a similar situation to the Barry deal, i'm getting a headache just thinking about it!

mbv

I wasn't impressed with Trap's comments. For one, Robbie is playing the best football of his career now he is settled at Spurs. He's been ****e for Ireland because we've had a ****e manager and a lot of average players around him.

If he did move to liverpool he might take a while to settle which would be bad for Ireland as we need him on the top of his form to gte out of the group we are in.

What do you expect when Liam Brady(the most biased man in the history of the arseholes) is on the coaching team for Ireland....bet he's in Trap's ear every 5 mins. ARSEHOLE.

I agree with previous posts...liverpool aren't going to come up with 20m and we do not want Crouch back. I would be so gutted if he left though

seanson

‘I don’t know what is happening with Liverpool at the moment but I would be very happy for him (to move),” said Trapattoni in Thursday’s Daily Mail.

“I hope it happens for him because it will be a big challenge. It would be important for him and important for us.”

Sounds like Brady has dissing Spurs.

However this is going on too long. If Keane or Ramos don't speak out soon with the players back at training and all, then it's going to cause more confusion, and the rumours may be closer to the truth than we would like to believe.

It would be a bad move for Keane. Spending half his time back on the bench with a manager that doesn't know what his best side is.. and most of the Liverpool fans wondering why they spent so much money on Keane.

A very strong denial from Keane is required.

Mr Alan

Actually Keane would start and play most games, being able to play in any position in the three pronged attack behind Torres or up front with him when we revert to 4-4-2.

And rafa doesnt rotate his best players ever, in fact i believe he rotates less than about 13 teams in the PL did last year. stop believing everything Sky tell you.

seanson

Mr Alan wrote: »

Actually Keane would start and play most games, being able to play in any position in the three pronged attack behind Torres or up front with him when we revert to 4-4-2.

And rafa doesnt rotate his best players ever, in fact i believe he rotates less than about 13 teams in the PL did last year. stop believing everything Sky tell you.

I guess that's the Liverpool "we".

That bring's to mind a quote from Rafa:
............Benítez explained his policy of ever-changing team selections thus: "I rotate because I want to win ... we have to rotate because our squad is not as good as Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United."......
"In England it is a different style of football and more difficult to influence what goes on," he explained. "It is not as simple to influence the game with tactics in England the way it is elsewhere in Europe.".

You say Rafa doesn't rotate. I'd say Shankly himself is rotating at the lack of Premiership success at Liverpool.

Ah sure they're a good cup side all the same.

I hope Keane has more sense in his old age than to move to a side on the slide.;)

Mr Alan

side on the slide eh?

how many points were spurs behind 4th place in 2006/2007? answer:8

how many points behind in 2007/2008? answer:30

is that counted as a slide?

Liverpool got more points in 07/08 (76) than they did in 06/07 (68)....team on the slide

funny lad you are.

therecklessone

Daily Mail says Crouch on his way to Pompey for £10m

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1031979/Crouch-way-Pompeys--10m-bid-wins-out.html

Peter Crouch finally landed his move to Portsmouth yesterday after the south coast club relented over his valuation and had a £10million bid accepted by Liverpool.

Throughout months of uncertainty over his future, the striker has insisted he would consider quitting Anfield only for Fratton Park, despite Tottenham offering £9m for him less than a fortnight ago.

His wish was granted when the two clubs struck an agreement last night over a deal that will be confirmed when the Football Association offices open on Monday morning.

Crouch was in jubilant mood after learning that Portsmouth had succeeded in a pursuit that was first revealed in Sportsmail earlier this year.

He made it clear he was prepared to run down the final year of his Liverpool contract rather than be forced into joining any other club, such was his determination to link up with Harry Redknapp and boost the ranks of England players at Fratton Park.

Portsmouth already have a quartet of England squad members in David James, Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and David Nugent. Crouch has long felt that more frequent starts under Redknapp would reinforce his standing at international level.

Liverpool will receive £8m up front and will waste little time putting it to good use.

They are close to sorting out the fine detail of Gareth Barry's protracted move from Aston Villa and are still exploring ways of prising £20m rated striker Robbie Keane away from Tottenham.

With Juventus expected to meet the £15m price tag on Xabi Alonso, they could soon have the funds needed to launch another bid for Keane.

Yossi Benayoun has turned down the chance of a move to Ajax and told boss Rafa Benitez he wants to fight for his place at Liverpool.

Ajax chiefs were given permission to speak with Benayoun's representatives after registering their interest with Liverpool, as revealed in Sportsmail.

But despite the prospect of linking up again with one of his former coaches, Danny Blind, and interest from Tottenham and Portsmouth, the Israel midfielder has made it clear he intends staying at Anfield.

mike65

hmmm, Alonso money is for Barry so if they can't get that right I'd question Crouchys exit (atm) until its confimed by a more reliable source.

Mike.

tippspur

I'm dissapointed in traps stupid coments.and i don't think keano will be going anywhere.

seanson

Poyet has been quoted as saying to the Daily Star Sunday:
"I was shocked when I heard him being linked with Liverpool - he's a very important player for us. We can't afford to let Robbie go. We have lost Jermain Defoe and, hopefully, Dimitar Berbatov will stay. If we lost Robbie it would be too much. "

It's about time that someone like Poyet said something. More importantly it's about time that Keane rubbished the rumours as well.

mike65

While I don't think it'll happen the fact Keane has said nothing suggets he is happy enough to be linked (even if he has no intention of moving) I smell a pay rise!

Mike