Robbie Keane was just about fed up with the questions over his place on the bench for Friday night’s defeat in Scotland.
The Republic of Ireland captain’s omission from the first team stole a lot of the headlines as Martin O’Neill opted for Jonathon Walters and Shane Long to lead the attack – with largely just one really operating up there at a time.
But, in the aftermath of the 1-0 loss, Keane was frustrated at the kerfuffle surrounding him being dropped and didn’t hold back with reporters.
“If the manager wants to play one up-front, I’m not f****** Niall Quinn and I’m not Shane Long,” he said. “They’re better at that than I am. If you play two up front and want to score goals, then that’s my game. I prefer to speak about the team rather than individuals – making a big deal out of someone starting a game. The manager made a decision and you have to respect that. Playing one up front doesn’t suit me so I think it’s fairly obvious that it’s not my game.”
The LA Galaxy star was also critical of the standard of the match but admitted that he expected that from what was essentially a derby.
“It was the exact same as the Old Firm derby I played in when I came (to Celtic) – no quality and people just trying to kick each other. It was a scrappy affair and whoever was going to get the first goal would go on and win the game and that was the case.”
