Richard Keys returns, minus a conspiracy theory, but featuring a great line about a Manchester United defender.
This week the beacon of truth’s blog takes aim at Phil Jones, Theo Walcott and features an indirect dig at Harry Redknapp, father of his former colleague, Jamie, who Keys took aim at recently.
Keys was writing about England’s midweek friendly against Italy, in which Jones started in midfield, a selection that baffled the former Sky Sports presenter. However, not as much as Alex Ferguson’s description of the player when he arrived at Old Trafford in 2011.
The former United manager said Jones could become as good as club legend Duncan Edwards, who tragically died in the Munich air disaster in 1958, aged just 21. Keys thinks such suggestions were nonsense, and said a comparison with 69 year old, former United chairman Martin Edwards is more apt.
‘How laughable then that when Fergie signed Phil Jones from Blackburn he likened Jones to the late, great, Busby Babe Edwards. Duncan Edwards? More like Martin Edwards. I’ve played with Martin (sorry to mention it if you’re reading this Martin!) and he was hopeless!’
‘Jones is obviously better than that. But Duncan Edwards? The comparison is an insult. Jones is a ‘good’ club pro. A decent centre back – no more. It might be he settles into a defensive partnership with Chris Smalling that works, but is either really good enough for Manchester United?’
‘Not for me. If that’s the case it should also rule them both out for England. Jones DEFINITELY isn’t good enough to play in midfield for either club or country. Did Hodgson really need to give him that embarrassing 45 in Italy to find that out? Surely not?’
Keys also isn’t a fan of Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, or his choice of footwear. ‘Theo Walcott is not a ‘centre forward’ – never has been. Never will be in my view,’ the beIN Sports presenter wrote, referring to England manager Roy Hodgson’s decision to play the winger up front.
‘In fact, he’s never got any better. He frustrates the life out of me. He did, in his pink boots, in Barcelona the night Messi gave Arsenal a mauling in the C Lge, and he still does. Good to have around, but not a starter. Certainly not where he started on Tuesday night.
Keys also took time to take a cheeky dig at former QPR manager Harry Redknapp, the overwhelming favourite for the England job prior to Hodgson’s appointment in 2012. ‘Let’s get this on record right away,’ Keys wrote. ‘For me (as Alan Hansen would often say!) he [Hodgson] was the right man for the job. There were no other candidates. I said so at the time and I haven’t changed my mind’.
The Qatar-based TV presenter is a fan of John Terry and Wayne Rooney though, saying the Chelsea skipper should win player of the year, and his ‘huge thighs’ that remind him of Duncan Edwards.
He also took to Twitter to thank readers of his blog.
Thank you for all the interest. Keep following and I'll keep telling you the truth.
— Richard Keys (@richardajkeys) April 2, 2015
You’re welcome Richard, we eagerly await your next blog of truth.
But, if you can’t wait another seven days for a fresh dose of truth-telling from the great man, here’s this week’s post.
