EAGER KEANE
Dab-hand defender is rallying for Russia slot
MICHAEL KEANE has admitted he will be devastated if a season that promised so much ends with him missing the World Cup.
The 25-year-old central defender who was rewarded with an England cap and a £30million move to Everton last season after a stellar campaign with Burnley, has lost his place in Gareth Southgate’s squad after a baptism of fire at Goodison Park.
There have been extenuating circumstances. Ronald Koeman was sacked just nine games after his £200million transfer spend couldn’t prevent the Toffees falling into the bottom three.
And while Sam Allardyce has completed the rescue mission he was brought in to do, Everton are a club in limbo as owner Farhad Moshiri examines his options for the future.
Keane is honest enough to admit he has struggled to maintain his own standards – and when he was left out of Southgate’s thinking for last month’s friendlies against Holland and Italy he was struck by the realisation that he could now fail to make the plane to Russia.
“It would be tough to miss out on the World Cup,” said Stockport-born Keane, who played for the Republic of Ireland at youth level when he was coming through the Manchester United ranks under Sir Alex Ferguson before committing himself to England. “There’s no hiding from that. If I’m not there then I’ll be disappointed.
“Obviously I will support the lads and be willing them to do well, but it would be hard to watch at home because it is something I have always strived to play in.
“When I signed for Everton part of my reasoning was that I would be joining a club that would help me play for England. It hasn’t quite worked out like that, has it? But I still think I’m in with a chance. I’ve been in five of the last six squads – and I know what Gareth Southgate thinks of me.
“He knows what I’m about. It’s about finishing the season well for Everton. I have been playing well for the last few months and all I can hope is that I can do enough to get back in the squad.”
Keane, impressive on his debut in the friendly against world champions Germany in Dortmund last March, has paid the price for months of upheaval at Goodison. And James Tarkowski, the Burnley defender who has filled Keane’s boots so impressively at Turf Moor, was handed his international debut against the Italians.
Keane admits an unseen complication was the arrival of so many new faces at Everton last summer.
Allardyce has come in for fierce criticism for the pragmatic way he has lifted the club to safety and victory over Newcastle at Goodison tomorrow would bolster hopes of finishing in the top half of the table.
Keane added: “It can be difficult getting to know each other when there are a lot of new players arriving at a club all at once.
“It’s only as the season goes on that you become more open and everyone is your mate. When I was at Burnley, the one thing that stood out was how well everyone got on and how strong the team spirit was.
“I’ve experienced things I’ve not been through before – like the manager being sacked and the fact Everton are bigger than Burnley means there’s more expectation.
“At the start of the season we were looking at top four, but that hope diminished really quickly. The aim now is to finish strongly and then kick on next season.”
■ Michael Keane is an Everton in the Community Ambassador for Sports Development and he was taking part in a Super Movers session at St Aloysius Catholic Primary School in Roby. For more details, go to: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/supermovers