ANGRY ROBBIE HITS OUT
Captain’s x-rated outburst after being left out on Friday night
ROBBIE Keane’s front-line Irish involvement for the remaining Euro 2016 qualifiers is uncertain after the record goal-scorer revealed his dislike of the lone-ranger role.
‘Playing one up front doesn’t suit me. I’m five foot 10, it’s not my game,’ admitted the 34-year-old striker.
‘If the manager wants to play one up front, I’m not f***** Niall Quinn or Shane Long, they’re better than that than I am,’ he said.
The Dubliner was dropped for the first time in 13 years for Friday’s 1-0 defeat away to Scotland, even though Martin O’Neill opted for a 4-4-2 formation which Keane prefers.
‘If you play two up front and want to score goals that’s my game,’ said Keane, who featured as a late substitute in Celtic Park but was unable to prevent Ireland losing ground on the Group D leaders. The manager made the decision, you have to respect that,’ he said.
O’Neill said he notified Keane of his intentions on Thursday night and finalised his team on Friday morning.
The Irish manager explained he took the decision ‘for the good of the team’, having said previously he couldn’t guarantee the LA Galaxy player a start in all the qualifiers.
The contentious decision to leave out his most experienced striker from a 4-4-2 formation has raised doubts about Keane’s
usefulness for the six qualifiers to come.
As the Dubliner doesn’t like the 4-5-1 set-up, and has just been overlooked for 4-4-2, he may be set for a peripheral role when Group D resumes against Poland on March 29.
Keane won’t get the chance to add to his record 65 Irish goals against the United States in Dublin on Tuesday as he returns to Los Angeles to help Galaxy prepare for their MLS Western Conference final.
The defeat on Friday has left Germany, Scotland and Ireland tied on seven points, three points behind leaders Poland.
For Keane, the 1-0 defeat amounted to taking a step back after the step forward against Germany last month.
‘When you go away to Germany and get a result in the last minute and then come here (Glasgow) and lose, of course it is disappointing.
‘It’s important when you come away from home that if you don’t score or don’t win the game that you don’t lose it. Unfortunately, we never did that.
‘We’re disappointed but we have to pick ourselves up and get on with it, knowing there’s a lot of games to be played and a lot of points to be had.
‘If you look at the overall picture and you see the points tally, you would probably be happy with seven points.’
Apart from Keane, Darron Gibson, who has only recently returned to action after a long-term knee complaint, is the only other member of O’Neill’s squad who has been released back to his club.
Gibson’s Everton clubmate James McCarthy, who was unable to line out on Friday night because of injury, has remained with the international set up.
Having been given two days off following the Celtic Park clash, the players report back to the squad’s hotel in Portmarnock tonight as they perpare for the visit of Jurgen Klinsmann’s men.