Should Robbie Keane retire from ROI squad?

Quazzie

CSF wrote: »

And the other 54.

Were majorly before he was past it. Jesus, did that really need to be explained or were you capable of perhaps coming to that conclusion on your own?

CSF

Quazzie wrote: »

Were majorly before he was past it. Jesus, did that really need to be explained or were you capable of perhaps coming to that conclusion on your own?

Well I was a little bit confused considering he is being called past it having just scored 2 against a 'poor team' who none of our other strikers managed to score 2 against. Quite rare that any of our strikers score 2 against any opposition to be honest.

keith16

Quazzie wrote: »

Because he's past it and people are using two goals against a poor side to make out like he is brilliant.

Robbie Keane is brilliant.

A brilliant example for all kids playing the game today. A brilliant finisher. A brilliant athlete scoring over 100 goals for Spurs. A brilliant shining example of how dedication and hard work can bring you success.

Call him "past it" if you want, I would love to have 10 other "past it" players on my team if they displayed the level of committment and skill that Keane does to this day.

In any other country he would be universally lauded. In fact, the truth is, Keane is widely praised by the majority of Irish fans, the exception being the so called Ireland fans on this forum.

Keane is damned by them if he does, and damned if he doesn't.

The cluelessness of those who bash him continue to amuse me to this day.

Keane is joint second, with Raúl and Jan Koller, on the list of all-time top scorers in European Championship qualification

Robbie Keane - Legend.

Rekop dog

Quazzie wrote: »

Were majorly before he was past it. Jesus, did that really need to be explained or were you capable of perhaps coming to that conclusion on your own?

Listen he isn't what he used to be but is still by far our most clinical finisher, agree going forward as he continues to age we should sometimes think of using him from the bench as an impact sub against certain opposition. But against weaker opposition like the Faroes on Friday he's without doubt our best option in terms of taking advantage of mistakes/poor defending or having the instincts to be in the right place at the right time.

Anyone who thinks that this frankly embarrassing thread ("he should retire") has any merit are clearly coming at the issue from a subjective hate filled place. Not sure what Robbie has done to deserve such disdain but it's a pretty shoddy way to treat a true legend.

Lennonist

I don't think any serious Irish soccer supporter underestimates what Robbie Keane has achieved and delivered for Ireland. I think there is an argument to be made that he shouldn't necessarily be always an automatic first choice pick in the starting line up at this stage of his career, though if Ireland continue to play 4-4-2, then he will continue to be an automatic starter. No-one can argue with a return of 56 goals at international level with hopefully more to come, it's unlikely to ever be surpassed in an Irish jersey. The good thing about the last couple of games is that Trap has finally recognised that Long should be a starter up front as well.

applehunter

Thought he was sharp when he came on and linked well with other guys in attack and his 2 goals were what you would expect from him.

But this has to be qualified. It was Georgia and they were down to 10 men.

Interesting to hear the panel on RTE tonight talking about Keane. John Giles said, Robbie has been as much a victim of the Trapattoni era as anyone. We give up so much possession every game and lack the guile when we do have the ball that he rarely gets the chances to get into the areas he got into today.

I'd be more critical than that but he does have a point.

Hulk Hands

The goals today do show something very important. Against poor opposition where we are likely to create chances, he is by far and away our best option. I don't think even the most ardent Keane supporter would say that he is better than Long at the moment. However, today Long had 4 relatively easy chances and didn't score. Robbie had 2 and scored twice. So yes, against Sweden in the Aviva, Robbie should probably be on the bench and used as an impact sub to nick a goal. But against the weak opposition (Faroes on Friday), he should be one of the first names on the teamsheet. There is an awful lot of cannonfodder in International qualification groups, and I can't understand why people would want to retire our best way of beating these teams.

Kirby

Brilliant player. Hope he doesn't retire any time soon.

He doesn't have the legs any more for 90 minutes. That much is obvious. But apart from Long, who else do we have?

I like Cox as a player in general and think he gets ridiculous stick from some fans, but he was fairly shocking tonight. The goal he scored glossed over his poor touch, poor passing and how off the pace he looked. That's the worst performance I've seen from him in quite a while.

Sammon doesn't have it at this level. No more needs saying. Stokes should be in the squad as he's good enough but shouldn't start.

I think our best option is a 4-2-3-1 with Long up front and Hoolahan in behind him. Hoolihan was class today. Such a good touch and a great passer of the ball....he does it quickly too which is nice. Keane and Walters as options from the bench. That's how I would have it anyway. Talk of not needing Keane is ridiculous.

farna_boy

Am I the only one who thinks it is absolutely pointless to be playing our most experienced players in friendlies against what can be best described as poor opposition?

Yes, he is the highest Irish goal scorer of all time. Yes, he is still able to score goals. But what did the two goals tonight prove? Nothing that we did not know already.

When he does retire, people will be on here lamenting that we did not blood young players for the last few years when we had a chance to do so and how we should have taken the opportunity during friendlies to do so.

The same goes for all our other players as well, but in the end what does it really matter if we beat Georgia 2-0 or 4-0? If anything we should be resting the players we rely on, giving new players a chance and let them be the ones to score an extra two goals at the beginning of their international career, not someone who is at the end of theirs.

noodler

Walters, Long, Cox and Keogh have all been blooded in the last two years or so.

McCarthy has been blooded although in fairness we are short in this position anyway.

Wilson has been blooded, McClean blooded, Forde blooded, Coleman blooded etc etc.

Just compare the team today (or in our last competitive fixture) to the team Vs Italy in the Euros under a year ago - its an absolute sea change.

farna_boy

noodler wrote: »

Walters, Long, Cox and Keogh have all been blooded in the last two years or so.

McCarthy has been blooded although in fairness we are short in this position anyway.

Wilson has been blooded, McClean blooded, Forde blooded, Coleman blooded etc etc.

Just compare the team today (or in our last competitive fixture) to the team Vs Italy in the Euros under a year ago - its an absolute sea change.

But they are all experienced players. Who was one of the last players to be brought on? Richard Dunne. FFS. We are only up 4-0 with how many minutes to go and we bring on our most experienced centre back?

Out of all the players you mentioned, how many are experienced Premier League players? Even a step further, how many are experienced centre forwards? According to most in this thread, we have yet to find a suitable replacement for Keane and he is the only who is able to score for us. So instead of continuing the search we should give up?

Now is the time to be looking for as many potential replacements for Keane and not having to go back to having to play him when he is pushing 40 like what we had to do with Cascarino.

Pat D. Almighty

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Agree with this.

On Robbie. The guy is Irish legend.

If the guy had a posher accent he may get more credit.....

What?

Ludikrus

Robbie is the best we ever had at appealing to refs for free kicks or penaltys. If you watch him, even if he lands on his head, he somehow manages to wave an appeal to the referee.

Ferris_Bueller

Was tonight not the perfect example of why Robbie deserves his place in the team? Two goals in 45 minutes of football. May have been against a ten man georgia team but he showed that he is a better goalscorer than Shane Long.

dublinhead

15th in all time top international goal scorers list with 56 goals. Could take a few more year to surpass top goal scorer from Iran on 109 goals!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_international_association_football_goal_scorers_by_country

Handsome Bob

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Agree with this.

On Robbie. The guy is Irish legend.

If the guy had a posher accent he may get more credit. The guy gets slaughtered for no reason.

The man has never refused playing for his country. A rare thing.

Lol at anyone who would get snotty over his accent or where he's from TBH.

~Rebel~

dublinhead wrote: »

15th in all time top international goal scorers list with 56 goals. Could take a few more year to surpass top goal scorer from Iran on 109 goals!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_international_association_football_goal_scorers_by_country

That record, playing for a European country, is frankly incredible. The only Europeans ahead of him are Puskas, Müller and Klose - all who played in significantly better teams.

<edit> actually, he's joint 20th, as the quoted list only features the top scorer from each country. Still remarkable though, and as far as Europeans are concerned, only 2 Hungarians can be added to the 3 guys I named above - Kocsis and Schlosser.
Source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_footballers_with_50_or_more_international_goals

aindriu80

He is already something like 8 goals ahead of England's best goalscorer and its their national sport. I hope he scores again against the Faroes.

The_Kew_Tour

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

What?

Kinda what it says on the thin.

Because he does not come across as sharpest tool in box he seen as easy target for haters

The_Kew_Tour

Handsome Bob wrote: »

Lol at anyone who would get snotty over his accent or where he's from TBH.

You be surprised.

Rekop dog

farna_boy wrote: »

But they are all experienced players. Who was one of the last players to be brought on? Richard Dunne. FFS. We are only up 4-0 with how many minutes to go and we bring on our most experienced centre back?

Out of all the players you mentioned, how many are experienced Premier League players? Even a step further, how many are experienced centre forwards? According to most in this thread, we have yet to find a suitable replacement for Keane and he is the only who is able to score for us. So instead of continuing the search we should give up?

Now is the time to be looking for as many potential replacements for Keane and not having to go back to having to play him when he is pushing 40 like what we had to do with Cascarino.

Long and Walters have played plenty in recent games, there's nobody else around that's even close to good enough to play for the International side up front and it's a fairly bleak future if nobody comes through in the youth teams in the next few years. Suppose Samir Carruthers has the ability to be molded into a number 10 but it's a different role to which he's playing currently.

People throwing Anthony Stokes around as a prospect should stop commenting on football.

MagicIRL

I can't understand why KEane gets half of the abuse he gets for playing with the ROI team. He's a legend. The chap bleeds green, white and orange.

Yes, he's getting old now. Should he retire? Absolutely not. Should he start every match? No.

Typical Irish, when they have something good going for them, all they can do is bitch and moan about it.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Rhys Essien wrote: »

OP,what are your latest thoughts??

My thoughts are exactly the same. Ireland in a home friendly is usually a safe bet, so a brace against international minnows is doing nothing more than feeding hype.

Robbie has been a faithful servant and is our record goalscorer but imo can no longer cut it against even the Swedens and Austrias of international football, so it's time to say a big thank you and goodbye.

ben.schlomo

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

My thoughts are exactly the same. Ireland in a home friendly is usually a safe bet, so a brace against international minnows is doing nothing more than feeding hype.

Robbie has been a faithful servant and is our record goalscorer but imo can no longer cut it against even the Swedens and Austrias of international football, so it's time to say a big thank you and goodbye.

Hard to disagree, especially given how utterly absent he was in the England game, its not a personal thing or having a go but he shouldnt be a starter in any way for us now given the level hes playing at and his age.

Tigerandahalf

As John Giles said Robbie is still our best finisher by some distance. For all Long's positives he gets a goal from about every 4 good chances. Robbie is ideal against the weaker teams as he will put away the chances. Maybe against the stronger teams he could lose out. As Giles said the service he has been getting has been poor and we have created very few chances.
Given that Robbie never relied on speed he could play on for another 5 years. His attitude is fantastic and clearly loves just playing soccer. The move to Galaxy was a good one.

CSF

There are definitely games where Keane isn't a definite starter. Both Long and Walters have lots to offer and it is something different for both to what Keane offers, but Keane offers something different too. The idea that he should retire is ridiculous.

Tigerandahalf

There was a time when I didn't like his play when he was running down blind alleys and waving frantically at the referee. But since his move to Galaxy and with regular football he has matured. I thought the turning point was the away game in Paris where he held up the play and played the ref v well.
I also like the way he never has bad press despite being married to a Wag of sorts. After the disappointment of the euros he just put his head down and ignored the media. The media dont seem to like him for this reason bu

ArmaniJeanss

aindriu80 wrote: »

He is already something like 8 goals ahead of England's best goalscorer and its their national sport.

Much as I love Robbie, stats like the above are fairly much garbage.

England and the other top dozen nations generally have more players to choose from, and a continuing production factory of players coming through every few years, therefore players are likely to be first choice in their position for far fewer years.

astonaidan

TBH I think its time for him to go!
On a hatrick and he passes to Cox. Sign of a striker with no confidence. Garbage :pac:

Pro. F

Johnny Electricity wrote: »

My thoughts are exactly the same. Ireland in a home friendly is usually a safe bet, so a brace against international minnows is doing nothing more than feeding hype.

Robbie has been a faithful servant and is our record goalscorer but imo can no longer cut it against even the Swedens and Austrias of international football, so it's time to say a big thank you and goodbye.

What do you mean ''even the Swedens and Austrias of international football''? You say that like they are the bottom tier. You seem to be not grasping that Georgia are also an international football team and that there are plenty of teams even worse than them in international football, we're playing one of them on Friday.

The Georgias and Faroes of international football need beating too and the best finisher we have by a long distance is Keane so of course he's useful. Arguing that the only goal poacher we have available to us should retire is completely ridiculous.

Rezident

Robbie has frequently annoyed me in the past but he's still our top goalscorer and we definitely need him in the squad.

tolosenc

Pro. F wrote: »

What do you mean ''even the Swedens and Austrias of international football''? You say that like they are the bottom tier. You seem to be not grasping that Georgia are also an international football team and that there are plenty of teams even worse than them in international football, we're playing one of them on Friday.

The Georgias and Faroes of international football need beating too and the best finisher we have by a long distance is Keane so of course he's useful. Arguing that the only goal poacher we have available to us should retire is completely ridiculous.

With both Kazakhstan and the Faroes in our group, results against one of them will count if we make second. If Robbie can still bang them in for fun against them, we might be able to go some way towards undoing the goal difference damage Germany did/will do.

Bigdeadlydave

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Agree with this.

On Robbie. The guy is Irish legend.

If the guy had a posher accent he may get more credit. The guy gets slaughtered for no reason.

The man has never refused playing for his country. A rare thing.

Exactly. If he sounded like Brian O'Driscoll he would be lauded much more.

tigger123

Bigdeadlydave wrote: »

Exactly. If he sounded like Brian O'Driscoll he would be lauded much more.

That's an interesting point actually, I wonder if he did sound like O Driscoll would peoples attitudes be different, and would the medias?

Bigdeadlydave

Nothing against Brian O'Driscoll either btw, great player and a legend - but so is Robbie and he doesn't get treated the same way at all by some.

Tigerandahalf

The soccer print media can be very cutting and 2 faced. Keane has generally ignored them. At first I thought it was arrogance but I think he has the right attitude. The media can be very quick to take a dislike to a player if an interview is refused and when the player hits bad form the knives come out. I can't remember any paper interview with Keane other than pieces from press conferences. I noted with Long in his press conference the last day as captain the media giving a good laugh to one of his jokes, trying to get on the good side for a future interview.

The_Kew_Tour

That was kinda the person I'm comparing him to in my post last night. O Driscoll comes across well. Great player and highly regarded.

But Robbie has shown just as much passion and people love to have a dig.

The differences in rugby and football are actually quite same for many players.

You never hear of people slating O Driscoll like you do Robbie.

Not even close.

Rekop dog

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

That was kinda the person I'm comparing him to in my post last night. O Driscoll comes across well. Great player and highly regarded.

But Robbie has shown just as much passion and people love to have a dig.

The differences in rugby and football are actually quite same for many players.

You never hear of people slating O Driscoll like you do Robbie.

Not even close.

I do think there's some truth to it but the comparison isn't the best. Why would anyone slate O'Driscoll? He played at the very height of the game for over a decade, there's literally no grounds for slating. Robbie obviously never reached the same heights in football despite having a very good career. When he isn't scoring in recent years the game can look like it's passing him by at times, still our best option but you can at least see how he can be open for criticism whether deserved or not(not imo) but you can't with O'Driscoll.

The_Kew_Tour

Rekop dog wrote: »

I do think there's some truth to it but the comparison isn't the best. Why would anyone slate O'Driscoll? He played at the very height of the game for over a decade, there's literally no grounds for slating. Robbie obviously never reached the same heights in football despite having a very good career. When he isn't scoring in recent years the game can look like it's passing him by at times, still our best option but you can at least see how he can be open for criticism whether deserved or not(not imo) but you can't with O'Driscoll.

Big difference in been the pinnacle of sport played on 10 countries and one played by around 100 or so at decent level.

That's not taking anything away from O Driscoll just you can't really compare anywhere close to level playing field.

Rekop dog

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Big difference in been the pinnacle of sport played on 10 countries and one played by around 100 or so at decent level.

That's not taking anything away from O Driscoll just you can't really compare anywhere close to level playing field.

So potential grounds to slate O'Driscoll would be that his sport isn't competitive enough?

I'm not having a go at Robbie by any means but it's very clear how he could be potentially open to criticism from misinformed fans compared to Brian who even the biggest hater would struggle to make a negative argument about him.

Bigdeadlydave

Rekop dog wrote: »

I do think there's some truth to it but the comparison isn't the best. Why would anyone slate O'Driscoll? He played at the very height of the game for over a decade, there's literally no grounds for slating. Robbie obviously never reached the same heights in football despite having a very good career. When he isn't scoring in recent years the game can look like it's passing him by at times, still our best option but you can at least see how he can be open for criticism whether deserved or not(not imo) but you can't with O'Driscoll.

I mentioned him because he is/was one of Irelands best rugby players ever - Robbie is one of Irelands greatest soccer players ever but the way both are treated by some is worlds apart

Robbie is extremely dedicated and eager to play for his country - as a phenomenally rich man living in LA at this stage of his career he doesnt have to - just look at how eager he still is to play for his country, even in friendlies.

He is Irelands record goalscorer by a huge margin, he has scored tons of goals everywhere he has been for a long time.

But he has a working class accent and isn't from the right area, and this is why (subconsciously or otherwise) the knives, the begrudgery and the slagging come out.

He has never done anything other than been a class act wherever he has been, on and off the pitch, no scandals, no scumbaggery, no ditching his country, just genuine pride and effort.

Brian O'Driscoll is very similar, but he can stamp on people and barely a word is said - if Keane did that, because of his accent, he'd be decried as a typical scumbag from tallaght.

Other countries would be delighted to have had a great player like Robbie who scored tons of goals.

And this stuff about him being too old or past it are complete rubbish, people have been on Robbies back wanting him gone for years now, the reasons they state have altered slightly, thats all but at its root is snobbery and begrudgery.

He is getting older now yes, but at 32 he is hardly ancient. Giles was saying that he is an out and out finisher, this is not true, he is a more rounded player than Giles gave him credit for, robbie has shown that he can play deeper and create chances (played well is this role at Villa iirc) - he's not the best at it but he is far from a Gary Lineker type player who does nothing except score. He is a great finisher and if a chance were to fall to anyone in the Irish squad or a penalty to be taken I would want it to be him.

He should be starting for Ireland in every game where he is fit, as long as we play a 442 formation - there is an argument that if we play with only one up top that person should not be him - but I think he could also do a good job playing behind the striker is needs be.

The_Kew_Tour

Rekop dog wrote: »

So potential grounds to slate O'Driscoll would be that his sport isn't competitive enough?

I'm not having a go at Robbie by any means but it's very clear how he could be potentially open to criticism from misinformed fans compared to Brian who even the biggest hater would struggle to make a negative argument about him.

Not saying that. What I'm saying it's unfair to compare both.

mikeym

After watching the Georgia match Robbie Keane has as much right to be on the national team as much as anyone else.

Bounty Hunter

mikeym wrote: »

After watching the Georgia match Robbie Keane has as much right to be on the national team as much as anyone else.

more, he is better than virtually all of them at what he does.

Dempsey

mikeym wrote: »

After watching the Georgia match Robbie Keane has as much right to be on the national team as much as anyone else.

If it took a friendly against Georgia, 10 man Georgia, to change your mind then your opinion wasnt much to begin with tbh

gnfnrhead

Very few have agreed that he should retire, the vast majority simply dont want him to be the first name on the team sheet anymore. Don't see how anyone are argue with that idea. He should be getting most of his games from the bench at this stage. Bring him on fresh at about 60 minutes against a tired defence and he'll be much more useful.

Pat D. Almighty

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Kinda what it says on the thin.

Because he does not come across as sharpest tool in box he seen as easy target for haters

I thought you said his public perception was influenced by his accent, not his intelligence? Your tin is mixed paint.

The_Kew_Tour

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

I thought you said his public perception was influenced by his accent, not his intelligence? Your tin is mixed paint.

Lol good man

Pat D. Almighty

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

That was kinda the person I'm comparing him to in my post last night. O Driscoll comes across well. Great player and highly regarded.

But Robbie has shown just as much passion and people love to have a dig.

The differences in rugby and football are actually quite same for many players.

You never hear of people slating O Driscoll like you do Robbie.

Not even close.

That's because O'Driscoll is one of the best players in the world within his sport.
Robbie isn't...

brianregan09

I wouldn't be basing my opinion on a game against a minnow like Georgia who are the equivalent of a good San Marino , I do think he deserves a place in the squad but not a guaranteed 1st team starter and captain