Robbie Keane is appreciated in Ireland alright. But, for what he has done, he is still arguably one of the most under-appreciated players in the game.
You don’t need to go through his stats, his records, his 17 years of service to his country. What he has done for Ireland will almost certainly never be matched and yet, somehow, he is still taken for granted in certain quarters.
A groin injury has hampered his season thus far in America and, despite playing 90 minutes at the weekend with LA Galaxy, the Irish skipper faces a battle to make the starting team on Saturday.
John O’Shea seems to have shaken off a calf injury that was interrupting his training and Paul McShane took part of Thursday’s session despite limping out during the week. Harry Arter’s assessment hasn’t come back good though and the Bournemouth midfielder has left the camp and returned to England.
Robbie Keane, though, was in full training on Wednesday and Thursday despite the tragic death of his cousin, Alan Harris, whose brother, Steve, is also fighting for his life.
Keane has still made it to Malahide for training and, in a footballing-sense, the striker is getting up to speed and holds the acclaim of his assistant manager.
“He’s trained today,” Roy Keane didn’t comment on yesterday’s tragic incident but he did discuss Robbie’s chances of playing at the weekend. “It’s not ideal with the match time that he’s had. I think he’s had one full game in the last couple of months which is not ideal but, when the players turn up, there’ll always be one or two issues with different lads carrying knocks or getting up to speed with their fitness.
“Robbie has trained – I would say his fitness is fine in terms of his injury but, of course, he’s lacking in match fitness. There’s not much we can do about that.”
The country’s leading goalscorer was left out of the starting team for the game in Scotland back in November and is once again fighting with Shane Long for a slot up top.
“I wouldn’t say he was dropped, no. I wouldn’t use that word, dropped,” Roy Keane said of the reverse fixture to Saturday’s clash. “It’s horses for courses – you play certain players on different days. I wouldn’t say Robbie was dropped.
“I think there are a lot of key decisions to be made. Obviously that’s what we’re here for, that’s what the manager is paid for. People keep talking the game up – it’s a big game, we know that – but with Martin’s experience, hopefully we pick the right starting 11.
“There are lots of stuff to look at: players carrying injuries, Robbie’s lack of match sharpness so it’s just about making a calculated decision that hopefully we’ll get right.”
It’s not just Long though. It’s David McGoldrick, it’s Daryl Murphy. There are four men there vying for what could be just one position.
“I think, if Robbie starts, he won’t let us down,” Roy said. “Whoever starts the game won’t let us down. We’ve got a lot of good competition: Murph doing well, McGoldrick, Long – there’s good competition up front. We’ll see over the next 24 hours if there’s no reaction to yesterday or today – he played the weekend, the travelling – today was a bit more intense for him and obviously the manager has a decision to be made.
“If Robbie plays, like he’s always done over a hundred odd times, he won’t let us down.”
