A STAR MAN IS WAITING

Roy tips his cap to Bale... but Ireland won’t be overawed

ROY KEANE never forgets. Just ask Alf Inge Haaland. And when the subject of Gareth Bale was brought up yesterday, Keane’s recall of a teenage tyro inflicting damage on Sunderland over 10 years ago in the Championship was instant.

‘I’ve always liked him. Even when I was manager of Sunderland he came up with Southampton and was the best player on the park. He equalised in injury-time and was excellent from left-back,’ said the Ireland assistant manager.

Keane has kept tabs on Bale’s progress since and has approved of the way the kid with the star dust in his feet has flourished to become a global name, mentioned in the same breath as Ronaldo and Messi.

‘He’s a talented boy who has fulfilled his potential and probably more. I like watching him play. He’s a big player for Wales and Real Madrid,’ said Keane.

‘The reason he’s a world class player is because they generally figure a way out to affect the game.

‘Whether Bale was at Southampton, Spurs or in the Champions League with Real Madrid, that’s what he does, he affects the game. A good player will always affect the game one way or another.

‘That’s why he has a big impact on all the Wales results, be it with goals or assists, the stats will tell you that.’

‘A lot of teams will have a so-called star man, and Bale is that,’ he added.

So should the Irish players be quivering in their boots as Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Wales approaches? Not so fast, reckons Keano.

‘Our lads should look forward to the challenge. You should want to play against and play with the best.

‘We have that chance on Friday because Bale is up there with the best players in the world,’ he said.

Ireland don’t have any world-beaters in their squad, more like panelbeaters, some of whom are getting creaky.

But in their injury-ravaged midst is a player who can win matches on his own, when the mood takes him: Aiden McGeady.

The 30-year-old winger may not operate in the same stratosphere as Bale but he has the capacity to twist defenders inside out and deliver pin-point deliveries for forwards to feed off.

The Glaswegian looked a busted flush in the run-in to the Euros where Keane tore strips off him, among others, after Ireland capsized against Belarus in the Turner’s Cross send-off.

That McGeady was available to play because he was deemed surplus to Sheffield Wednesday’s requirements squad for their Championship play-offs indicated a career on the slide.

Not now. McGeady has been revived at Preston and is surfing a wave of confidence heading into Friday’s showdown.

In his last eight club games, he’s scored four goals, created three more and is the current Championship ‘Player of the Month.’

So did McGeady take Keane’s censure on board?

‘You would have to ask him. Players take criticism different ways but we are delighted with him,’ said Keane.

‘You can tell from Aiden in training, from his body language that he’s happier,’ he continued.

‘He’s added goals to his game and I’ve seen Preston play a couple of times and you come away thinking that Aiden has that bit of quality you don’t often get in Championship games.

‘It’s a huge plus for us that Aiden is playing regularly, training regularly, as he has match sharpness, match preparation, match recovery and he’s nicking a few goals.’

With so many players ruled out — Daryl Murphy was the latest injury withdrawal yesterday with yet another calf problem — McGeady has moved into Martin O’Neill’s line of thinking for Friday despite playing just five minutes of the World Cup campaign so far.

McGeady can be deployed wide right or wide left, or could slot in as the advanced midfielder, as he did in Gelsenkirchen in the Euro qualifiers.

If the role in Germany was unfamiliar to him, he has a handle on what’s needed now and his quick feet could tempt the Welsh defenders into rash tackles and lead to frees in promising areas.

McGeady wasn’t a likely starter when O’Neill left Vienna on a high in November but he has been catapulted into the equation, along with John O’Shea and Richard Keogh, in the absence of others and because of his improved form.

Stephen Ward will return at leftback and O’Neill can count on four players who’ve played almost every minute so far — Seamus Coleman, Darren Randolph, Jon Walters and James McClean.

While Ireland are wounded, no one is hiding behind the medical reports.

‘There will be no excuses,’ insisted Keane. ‘This element of doom and gloom with injuries is not something we’re buying into. We’ve a good group left and there will be no excuses.

‘I think the players are in a good place, working with a brilliant manager and we have a bit of momentum, belief and a unity about us.

‘I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else over the next few days than getting ready for an international match for Ireland with the group of players we have.

‘If you think for our mind-set is a draw than you’re sadly mistaken. We’re here to win.

‘We’ll have a right go on Friday,’ he promised before pausing, ‘a right go.’

The last player you want the ball to fall to is Gareth Bale. He’s an exceptional player – ROY KEANE, NOVEMBER 11, 2006.