Robbie Keane

[Elvoz]

i may be wide of the mark but i think keane is being used by rafa as some
kind of pawn in his on going parry battle - in fact rafa at the moment is not exactly endearing himself to the fans imo are you telling me ngog is a better sub to have on the bench ?

[Ataturk]

thing is, i think keane has had plenty of chances. with torres being injured he has had a great run of games and he has wasted so many great opportunities on goal. i just think some people here have to accept he hasnt been good enough.

there have been flashes... the goal against arsenal, his double against bolton and he ran his socks off against united at home. but then there have been too many games where he has not been clinical enough. atletico away, preston in the cup, the league derby game.

we have drawn too many games at home this season and robbie keane was brought in to score goals. for all his efforts he has failed to make the impact needed. he is not of the required standard and its difficult to see what he brings to the team thats vastly different or better than when we play kuyt in that position.

i really wish we had kept crouchie and not pursued his signing.

[The Birdman]

Exactly, I think it all started with his fancy back heel attempt away at AM just after we went 1 up, instead of killing the game with a simple sidefoot he attempts the fancy finish, misses and we go on to draw the game.
You can try that stuff with Rafa if you are good enough like Torres and Gerrard, you can't blame Rafa for Keane not doing enough during the 65 mins he generally is on the pitch before getting subbed because Rafa has given him the opportunity to start game after game (much like he did with Crouch, Babel for example would love a run of starts like Keane was given) it has been Keane's sub standard performances that have led to him being subbed more often than not.
The Berbatov arguement is pointless because they are completely different players in completley different teams, Berbatov is finishing games because they don't have anyone else with Rooney injured and are still in need of a goal come the last 5 mins. When Torres was injured Keane finished plently of games and still didn't produce.

I love a conspiricy theory so agree that Keane is a Parry signing and in the week or so before his talks with Hicks Rafa is saying "Parry bought me a £20 million player I didn't really want, look how he is wasting your money"

[BFG]

If you offer very little on the pitch 85% of the time then it should come as no surprise if you don't get a lot of games. Rafa does seem to be very ruthless when it comes to Keane but can anyone honestly say the lad deserves to be on the pitch at the moment?

[Tee]

Unfortunately he just seems to be a square peg in a very round hole right now.

We just look more balanced and play so much better as a team with Stevie playing off Torres and Mascher/Xabi in CM.

[BFG]

Unfortunately he just seems to be a square peg in a very round hole right now.

We just look more balanced and play so much better as a team with Stevie playing off Torres and Mascher/Xabi in CM.

I have a feeling that Keane and Babel will still have a role to play in the run-in though.

That said I'm probably the only person left who still thinks we'll win the PL and CL.

[ntto]

Exactly, I think it all started with his fancy back heel attempt away at AM just after we went 1 up, instead of killing the game with a simple sidefoot he attempts the fancy finish, misses and we go on to draw the game.
You can try that stuff with Rafa if you are good enough like Torres and Gerrard, you can't blame Rafa for Keane not doing enough during the 65 mins he generally is on the pitch before getting subbed because Rafa has given him the opportunity to start game after game (much like he did with Crouch, Babel for example would love a run of starts like Keane was given) it has been Keane's sub standard performances that have led to him being subbed more often than not.
The Berbatov arguement is pointless because they are completely different players in completley different teams, Berbatov is finishing games because they don't have anyone else with Rooney injured and are still in need of a goal come the last 5 mins. When Torres was injured Keane finished plently of games and still didn't produce.

I love a conspiricy theory so agree that Keane is a Parry signing and in the week or so before his talks with Hicks Rafa is saying "Parry bought me a £20 million player I didn't really want, look how he is wasting your money"

think you're spot on with the first element of this.

I've harped on before about rafa and coaching, but there is no room in rafas philosophy for not doing things mechanically - rafa is all about creating one or two clear chances, taking at least one of them and then shutting up shop and taking the win.

My opinion is that if keane cant convert the clear chances he is given then rafa simply wont play him. Reputations dont matter. Rafas technical approach to games and training rely on stats and i imagine goals to chances ratio is one of them

I know the kuyt argument to this, but he is offering us more on the right than any other player at the minute.

[el matador]

i feel for robbie because i dont think benitez wanted him and he's now been left out of the team and treated unfairly by rafa.

If you look at the impact that berbatov has had then keane could do something similar but he needs to play.

[Paul12]

The problem for Keane has been a loss of form and confidence at a time when we could not afford to carry him - because Torres was injured and we needed goals from our strikers. So he had to be taken out of the team.

The difference between Keane and Kuyt is that Kuyt is much more of a handful for a defender - more physical and his movement around the box is better - so, although neither are scoring now (1) Kuyt is a better bet and (2) at least Kuyt has found form at points in the season.

I am really disappointed about Keane because I thought he would be a good addition to the first 11 but so far he has simply not be good enough and has for the most part brought little to the team. Rafa can be brutal, but in my mind Keane only deserves the bench at the moment.

So, should we sell him. Well, yesterday conirmed what we have known for years - we need someone who can take on and beat players and or a truly creative player. If we can get him now, I'd sell Keane now to fund the purchase...but otherwise I still think Keane will come good in the end. But his and Kuyt's lack of goals will cost us a number of points this season and I fear what that means for our chance of winning the EPL.

[Kenneth]

I really don't understand why Keane is being treated in this way.

Other players might be put off coming here knowing they will have to hit the ground running otherwise they get ****ted on then ****ed off quickly.

Anyone who doesn't think they can perform in the number of games Keane's had shouldn't be coming to our club.

Keane is being shut out because he has been so woefully bad. Simple as that. People talk of his reactions to being substituted etc, I think it's just a case of him making more air shots than Gerrard clay pigeon shooting and offering no real goal threat.

(I hate being proven correct)

[ntto]

another problem i forsee, if we were to sell keane, the money wouldnt be immediately invested in teh squad, instead it would be used to help the owners with their financial situation

[BG1973]

thing is, i think keane has had plenty of chances. with torres being injured he has had a great run of games and he has wasted so many great opportunities on goal. i just think some people here have to accept he hasnt been good enough.

there have been flashes... the goal against arsenal, his double against bolton and he ran his socks off against united at home. but then there have been too many games where he has not been clinical enough. atletico away, preston in the cup, the league derby game.

we have drawn too many games at home this season and robbie keane was brought in to score goals. for all his efforts he has failed to make the impact needed. he is not of the required standard and its difficult to see what he brings to the team thats vastly different or better than when we play kuyt in that position.

i really wish we had kept crouchie and not pursued his signing.

100% agree, he's not been good enough. Compare him to torres in the derby..torres back from injury, might frogivehim for not pushing himself 110% yet he was always in the picture. Robbie was invisible, when the ball cam near him the defenders always seemed to get their foot in first.

Re Crouch, not much we could do, he wanted the move not us as far as I am aware. We would be on a lot more points if he'd have stayed.. and now he's shafted at Pompey.

[Kenneth]

100% agree, he's not been good enough. Compare him to torres in the derby..torres back from injury, might frogivehim for not pushing himself 110% yet he was always in the picture. Robbie was invisible, when the ball cam near him the defenders always seemed to get their foot in first.

Re Crouch, not much we could do, he wanted the move not us as far as I am aware. We would be on a lot more points if he'd have stayed.. and now he's shafted at Pompey.

He wanted to go because he'd been frozen out for some reason. A whole other discussion as to why.

[Jack D Rips]

[QUOTE=BG1973;1261307]100% agree, he's not been good enough. Compare him to torres in the derby..torres back from injury, might frogivehim for not pushing himself 110% yet he was always in the picture. Robbie was invisible, when the ball cam near him the defenders always seemed to get their foot in first.

Re Crouch, not much we could do, he wanted the move not us as far as I am aware. We would be on a lot more points if he'd have stayed.. and now he's shafted at Pompey.[/QUOTE]

Are you for real. He wanted to go because he was frozen out by Rafa, and treated appallingly, just the sames Robbie is being treated now

[Kenneth]

100% agree, he's not been good enough. Compare him to torres in the derby..torres back from injury, might frogivehim for not pushing himself 110% yet he was always in the picture. Robbie was invisible, when the ball cam near him the defenders always seemed to get their foot in first.

Re Crouch, not much we could do, he wanted the move not us as far as I am aware. We would be on a lot more points if he'd have stayed.. and now he's shafted at Pompey.

Are you for real. He wanted to go because he was frozen out by Rafa, and treated appallingly, just the sames Robbie is being treated now

Strange, because Crouch started as badly as Keane in terms of scoring but was given the time and became a top player, then was frozen out.