Robbie Keane

Alex  Ferguson was asked once whether he was interesed in signing Robbie Keane, around the time when he was scoring for fun and on the market.

The injury which ruled Robbie Keane out of Tottenham's pre-season trip to Portugal is not thought to be serious.

Keane reportedly sustained a knee problem, which meant he did not travel to Lisbon for Tuesday night's friendly against Benfica.

Republic of Ireland striker Keane has been repeatedly linked with a move away from White Hart Lane since spending the second half of last season on loan at Celtic.

I remember watching him play for Coventry City in 1999 and noticed he possessed tremendous skill and an eye for goal. This video is a compilation of what he was capable of in his ‘Sky Blue’ days.  He was certainly an exciting talent and at such a young age he displayed great potential.   His goalscoring record wasn’t as impressive as other strikers, but he was always a threat and played a part in most of Coventry City’s goals. Then Inter Milan snapped him up, a move which he stated as his “dream” (he likes to say that a lot) but it didn’t work out and he was loaned back to Leeds United, where he had a better time.

Leeds United then ran into a lot of financial trouble and many of their top players, including Keane, (and Rio Ferdinand) had to be sold.   Tottenham Hotspur bought him for £7million in 2002 and Keane’s star was to rise once again. He was top scorer in his first season with the Spurs, scoring 13 goals. However the next year he struggled to regain his goalscoring touch and fell out of favour, but he worked hard and remained persistent. In 2006, he struck up a great attacking partnership with Dimitar Berbatov. Keane’s hard running combined with Berbatov’s skill and class was a hit for Spurs and the goals rained in.

Then Keane was signed by Liverpool in summer 2008. His striker partner Berbatov also left for Manchester United, and Spurs suffered.   This was a period of Keane’s career that left me extremely disappointed. He arrived at Anfield proclaiming it was his “childhood dream” but he failed to step up to the mark. Liverpool’s manager at the time could be at fault for not playing Keane in his preferred position but if you’re playing for your ‘dream’ club surely you would be willing to make a compromise just to have the honor of pulling on the shirt? No. Keane sulked and the media attention around him only worsened the situation. When he was loaned to Celtic last season, he again claimed it was his “dream”.  He did relatively well there and now he is back at Spurs ready for the new season.

Robbie Keane irks me as a Liverpool fan because in my eyes, he didn’t try hard enough. He didn’t show the commitment that Liverpool fans need. He was very selfish with the ball and felt the game was all about him. In my opinion, he let himself down.   And saying that every club you join is a “dream” does make you look silly after a few years.

His talent is unquestionable, and I think he is better off with Spurs. He seems comfortable there and if he keeps working hard, he will get his chance again, just as he during his first period at Spurs. However, he needs to keep his head down and work for the team, and not let his ego or sense of self-importance jeopardize his chances again.  If he really wants to play every week and not feel threatened by other strikers, then maybe he should start setting his sights a little lower.

HOWARD MEGDAL: As a recent convert to Tottenham Hotspur, I was fortunate enough to see the club in a pair of matches at Red Bull Arena, just 30 minutes from my house. As a reward, Robbie Keane, the long-tenured member of Spurs, showed me his goal-scoring prowess in both the Thursday and Sunday contests. In other words, I got to experience what Spurs fans had 121 times coming into this season. I felt an immediate sense of continuity between my experience and that of the long-time diehards.

But now, with the transfer talk heating up around Keane, it appears I got him just before he left. The Ireland standout didn’t make the trip to face Benefica Tuesday, and it appears Harry Redknapp has other striker targets he intends to acquire before Spurs open against Manchester City on August 14. (Keane is said to be injured- as was Freddie Ljungberg, just prior to his acquisition by the Chicago Fire.)

This is a shame; Keane is not only a long-tenured member of the club (with some unfortunate interruptions, as detailed by Karen), but he is a different kind of finisher than a Peter Crouch, for instance, making him an effective change-of-pace for the oversized English international.

As for Karen’s criticism of Keane as saying a few times that joining a new team is “a dream”, I would ask her: who among us hasn’t had multiple dreams? I applaud him for being in touch with his unconscious!

For his part, Keane was clearly in-form during both the Red Bull Arena matches. Playing against defenders in the middle of their seasons, Keane routinely found space, and didn’t miss when getting the opportunities. I could almost picture myself at White Hart Lane, retroactively, cheering for Keane.

But now, it appears that is the only way I’ll get to do it. What a rude introduction to the transfer window.

Think he could still do it at Spurs if he was given a chance. Otherwise he'd be great the someone like Villa, Fulham, Wolves etc. Surprised someone from the continent doesn't go in for him either.