Slovakia v Ireland - 12th October - K/O 19:30

Mr.Nice Guy

KK, I wouldn't write Keane off just yet. He's definitely in low spirits and lacking sharpness but he just needs to move on from Spurs like he did with Celtic on loan last season. Hopefully he'll get a transfer and get back that sharpness and I'm sure we will get good mileage out of him for a few more years. I think we will have to as I don't see many exciting options in that position coming through.

KELTICKNIGHTT

havent written him off but he need club game time,i never consider keane a top striker but all we had and we hes not even giving us that any more,as far as long goes,only had few games,this mc carthy might help,wont know till hes played with irish setup,all trap doing lately is long balls,hit or miss if it works,againist russia,it didnt,the 2-3 score made ireland look better than they where,kilbane needs too go

OPENROAD

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

KK, I wouldn't write Keane off just yet. He's definitely in low spirits and lacking sharpness but he just needs to move on from Spurs like he did with Celtic on loan last season. Hopefully he'll get a transfer and get back that sharpness and I'm sure we will get good mileage out of him for a few more years. I think we will have to as I don't see many exciting options in that position coming through.

What was the situation with him in the summer, why didn't he get a transfer then?

KELTICKNIGHTT

think some one on this thread show something about that trap was saying, and i think keane wanted too stay at spurs and trap support keane ,maybe

OPENROAD

KELTICKNIGHTT wrote: »

think some one on this thread show something about that trap was saying, and i think keane wanted too stay at spurs and trap support keane ,maybe

It was pretty obvious he was not going to be a starter during the summer imo

KELTICKNIGHTT

he should move ,find another club

Dean820

He stayed because other clubs wouldn't give him enough money apparently.

KELTICKNIGHTT

i guess he be staying there so for a good while

JerryHandbag

I was never Robbie Keanes biggest fan, his stupid goal celebration alone annoys me. (scoring to make it 3-1 against Andorra is nothing to write home about in fairness). Too much waving his hands around looking for referee to blow up. His first touch last night was shocking, let alone his attempts on goal. The way he scored that penalty against Russia and then didnt even bother to go grab the ball and restart the game showed me he had seemingly given up on that game. All is not well in camp Robbie Keane. However, as Eamonn Dunphy would say....theres a "but" coming here.

BUT

The simple fact is in the last campaign we would not have even made the playoff with France without his goals. How many times did he turn 1 point into 3? Or zero points into 1. Georgia home, Cyprus home and away, Italy away, and of course the goal in Paris that mocks the notion that he doesnt score in big games. As John Giles said last night, he can live with Keane putting in average shifts as long as theres a goal or 2 from him. I cant recall him putting in any man of the match performances in WC2010 qualifiers and yet his goals were vital.

Its 5 months now til next qualifier, time enough for him to sort out where he's gonna get regular football. Bolton, Blackburn, Sunderland, Celtic again....I dont really care, he needs to be banging in the goals regardless of the opposition. I'm convinced he can get some vital goals towards the end of this campaign once he gets regular football.

paulcorr

I think there is to much Robbie keane knocking on here, alright he is not having the best of times at the moment and i like everyone else was calling him every name under the sun last night when he missed the peno and that chance in the second half what other options are there. As for Paul green how is he even in the squad let alone the starting 11.Kevin kilbane is passed it, Glen whelan is not good enough,, Shane long his first start in how many years, Mcgeady is never going to score you a goal and is so frustrating its unreal.Darren gibson a bit part player with united it seems that new players are not the norm with trapatoni we need at least 5 or 6 new faces in the Norway friendly what harm can it do.

tonycascarino

Time for Trap to ditch Kilbane, Green, Keogh, McShane and that sort. They are just not good enough to be in the Irish squad. We have far better players out there who he is refusing to give a chance.

SportsGreatest

paulcorr wrote: »

I think there is to much Robbie keane knocking on here, alright he is not having the best of times at the moment and i like everyone else was calling him every name under the sun last night when he missed the peno and that chance in the second half what other options are there.

Shane Long and Kevin Doyle. I know you might say they are similar type players, but it would be worth trying them out against Norway anyway, just to see how they fare.

Pauleta

Robbie Keane will always get stick when he isnt scoring. Ireland fans tolerate him because he scores goals but lets be honest he is not a very likeable person.

devotional1993

Pauleta wrote: »

Robbie Keane will always get stick when he isnt scoring. Ireland fans tolerate him because he scores goals but lets be honest he is not a very likeable person.

With a wife like his, he should be a very vary happy man:D

I like Robbie-poor game last night but the guy has saved us so many times. When people say he shouldnt play-I always say-ok but who would you play instead???-they go very quiet-gob****es begrudgers and moaners the lot of them.

ultain

Pauleta wrote: »

Robbie Keane Ireland fans tolerate him because he scores goals but lets be honest he is not a very likeable person.

Dont talk such bollocks! :mad:

stiffler123

Dropping Robbie would be suicide to our qualification chances. If he would of scored one of those chances last night nobody would be bashing him. He doesn't always play well, but sometimes when he doesn't play well he also bags a few goals at the same time. If we have any chance of topping this group- he's our guy. I hope he moves in January though so he will be at his best.

Corholio

I am not a fan of Robbie Keane at all, I dont like the guy at all. But in football terms it would be absolute madness to drop him. I, like any fan, hates to see Keane play absolute crap for a match and then pop up and score the winner and take all the acclaim. But i would hate even more if we had someone who played crap and didnt pop up and score the winner. We dont have anyone who will scores the goals Keane does, or to be honest even create the chances for themselves, which I think is an overlooked point. Long played ok the other night but as a striker how many chances did he get? Keane will do that better than anyone we have.

ultain

Corholio wrote: »

I am not a fan of Robbie Keane at all, I dont like the guy at all. But in football terms it would be absolute madness to drop him.

Have you meet the lad..know him well?
Football terms..it would be daft to drop him

KELTICKNIGHTT

stiffler123 wrote: »

Dropping Robbie would be suicide to our qualification chances. If he would of scored one of those chances last night nobody would be bashing him. He doesn't always play well, but sometimes when he doesn't play well he also bags a few goals at the same time. If we have any chance of topping this group- he's our guy. I hope he moves in January though so he will be at his best.

on current form i dont think so,if he plays his normal average self,then we need him,only way thats going too happen if he get club football time,other wise no good too ireland up front

ultain

I reckon Robbie could be useful in midfield..that's if we could manage stop huffing the ball up field..one of our best players for holding a ball up.
Duff was missed for the last two games, may not have the legs he had before but like Robbie still has a great footballing head.

TheJesusWarrant

Keane's a good player but let's face it he's lost a step and his touch has deserted him. He needs to be playing week in week out. If he'd swallow his pride, take the pay cut and go to Celtic or a 'lesser' premiership side, Ireland would benefit. If he continues to show little ambition and insists on rotting on the spurs bench then he can have no complaints if he loses his Ireland spot. This is not the time to be getting sentimental about players like Keane or Kilbane. Great servants but if we ignore the reality of the situation and persist with out of form and washed up players we'll miss out on yet another major tournament and Kilbane's appearances and Robbie's goal scoring record will be little consolation then.

killwill

devotional1993 wrote: »

With a wife like his, he should be a very vary happy man:D

I like Robbie-poor game last night but the guy has saved us so many times. When people say he shouldnt play-I always say-ok but who would you play instead???-they go very quiet-gob****es begrudgers and moaners the lot of them.

I like Robbie too tbh. Was listening to the match on the radio at work when one of my co-workers says "Robbie missed a penalty again" to which I replied when is the last time he missed a peno for Ireland? Couldn't answer me the fool. I had to point out that was his first.

orourkeda

devotional1993 wrote: »

With a wife like his, he should be a very vary happy man:D

I like Robbie-poor game last night but the guy has saved us so many times. When people say he shouldnt play-I always say-ok but who would you play instead???-they go very quiet-gob****es begrudgers and moaners the lot of them.

Is this what you call people who would like to see Robbie Keane dropped for playing poorly.

The selection of any player should be based on current form and on current form Robbie Keane doesnt deserve his place in the team.

To be called a begrudger for calling for a player to be dropped for playing poorly is foolish.

paulcorr

TheJesusWarrant wrote: »

Keane's a good player but let's face it he's lost a step and his touch has deserted him. He needs to be playing week in week out. If he'd swallow his pride, take the pay cut and go to Celtic or a 'lesser' premiership side, Ireland would benefit. If he continues to show little ambition and insists on rotting on the spurs bench then he can have no complaints if he loses his Ireland spot. This is not the time to be getting sentimental about players like Keane or Kilbane. Great servants but if we ignore the reality of the situation and persist with out of form and washed up players we'll miss out on yet another major tournament and Kilbane's appearances and Robbie's goal scoring record will be little consolation then.

If we drop the washed up and out of form players we wont have a team.
Given not playing at city,Keane not playing at spurs,Kilbane way passed his sell by date,Green probably one of the worst players i have ever seen in an Ireland jersey,Gibson a bit part player at united,John o shea in and out of united team like a yo yo.It seems only injury will lead to trappatoni making changes and Paul greens inclusion on tuesday proved that.

MickShamrock

Robbie Keane doesn't need to be dropped. Even off-form he is the best striker we've got!

jimbling

paulcorr wrote: »

If we drop the washed up and out of form players we wont have a team.
Given not playing at city,Keane not playing at spurs,Kilbane way passed his sell by date,Green probably one of the worst players i have ever seen in an Ireland jersey,Gibson a bit part player at united,John o shea in and out of united team like a yo yo.It seems only injury will lead to trappatoni making changes and Paul greens inclusion on tuesday proved that.

But Given is top class and we have no other option. I don't think a top class goalkeeper not playing weekly is as serious as a middle class striker not player weekly.

Correct, Kilbane is passed it and should not be playing.

Green should not be on the pitch under any circumstances. I genuinely feel sorry for the guy. We are all human, and it must be pretty tough being in his head right now.

Gibson is a bit part player yes... so may not deserve to be first name on the list for midfield or anything, but he's a lot better than Green. Miles ahead in attack, and better in defence as well.

John O Shea in and out of united team?? He's played the full 90 minutes in every game this year. And even when he is in and out, serving united as the versatile replacement defender, he is still always solid and professional. Comparing him to the form Keane is in is just ludicrous.


Robbie
I have nothing against Robbie Keane. I'd consider him a bit of a headless chicken, but he's always delivered for Ireland.
BUT, he is so blatantly out of form at the moment. I like to think he should have been dropped, but to be honest, I dont think I (manager hat on) could have brought myself to do it either. Especially with the current injuries in the squad.


When we got the penalty on Tuesday I had an immediate reaction. DO NOT LET ROBBIE TAKE IT.
He had had such a bad game up to that point. His touch. His mannerisms. Everything just led me to be sure he wouldn't do it. I was in a room full of lads watching it..... and naturally, I got the blame when my prediction came true :pac:

If Robbie was not on the pitch, who would have taken it??

ultain

It's Frustrating the way the game went Tuesday night...especially with the long wait till our next game...but lets not all slate Robbie Keane kilbane or the manager of the team, i really dont what people expect..we have a good team/squad with a good mix of youth and experience. I'm fairly confident that we will qualify

Pro. F

ultain wrote: »

It's Frustrating the way the game went Tuesday night...especially with the long wait till our next game...but lets not all slate Robbie Keane kilbane or the manager of the team, i really dont what people expect..we have a good team/squad with a good mix of youth and experience. I'm fairly confident that we will qualify

At least the next game is a friendly. Hopefully Trap will be moving Fahey into the centre against Norway and then stick with that going forward. And so when our next competitive game comes around the team will be looking in much better shape.

devotional1993

orourkeda wrote: »

Is this what you call people who would like to see Robbie Keane dropped for playing poorly.

The selection of any player should be based on current form and on current form Robbie Keane doesnt deserve his place in the team.

To be called a begrudger for calling for a player to be dropped for playing poorly is foolish.

Wouldn't matter if he scored mate-he still would get stick. The foolish are the ones who forget he scores in every second game and big deal he misses his first peno for Ireland. He had a poor game but I bet he will be our top scorer in this campaign.

AirDemon

devotional1993 wrote: »

Wouldn't matter if he scored mate-he still would get stick. The foolish are the ones who forget he scores in every second game and big deal he misses his first peno for Ireland. He had a poor game but I bet he will be our top scorer in this campaign.

I agree, he will def be our top scorer. If he isn't then who is it going to be? Doyle? He might manage... possibly... if we're lucky.... and he is very lucky... get 4... I can't even see him getting that much.

If we play without Robbie up front then who is going to get the rest of our goals? Gibson might be worth one or two, Long maybe with one or two, maybe a few dotted around the rest of the team.

This will all be pretty lucky; being realistic I don't think the team has what it takes to go through in first, far from it to be honest. I think our best shot is second and that isn't something we should feel we have a divine right to.

I think we'll struggle for second, mostly due to us dropping points when we really need to pick them up. Losing to Russia was a pity but against Slovakia could have been a really good scalp and even though I'd like to say we'll beat them at home, I don't know how much I believe that and how much I think it's probably going to be a draw.

Probably sounds a little pessimistic but...

FREETV

MickShamrock wrote: »

Robbie Keane doesn't need to be dropped. Even off-form he is the best striker we've got!

Whether or not he is the best striker we have or not is debateable, we never look as if we are even capable of scoring upfront in our matches. Kicking the ball on target and passing the ball accurately are the basics which the team doesn't even seem capable of doing. Playing long balls upfront is not proper football and a bit of a lottery tactic. At least five changes should be made to the starting lineup for the friendly match against Norway and more positive tactics and usage of the ball should be encouraged from midfield in order for a better supply of balls up to the forwards. We shouldn't depend or rely on one player upfront or set pieces either. The matches are very frustrating to watch and the level of football skill is dire to say the least. Shots towards goal are few and far between and nobody seems to want to take the initative and make a proper go of it. Much greater effort and hardwork on the part of the players is needed. I will be pleasantly surprised if we actually qualify this time again.