Almost impossible to fill Robbie’s boots
It’s a narrative running through the heart of Irish sport in recent weeks, like lettering in a stick of seaside rock. Kerry’s Colm Cooper sidelined for the year through injury. Brian O’Driscoll approaching his final curtain call with Ireland.
And then there was last night’s preview of ‘Life after Robbie’. Keane (the younger) has never enjoyed the unconditional awe of Cooper or BOD but his importance to his country can be registered in any number of ways.
There was a time when the man from Tallaght’s stock dropped.
For almost five years there, between his World Cup goal against Spain in Suwon in 2002 and a late equaliser against Italy in Bari in 2009, his goals-to-games ratio was propped up by efforts against minnows or strikes in meaningless friendlies.
Yet his tally of 62 international goals is extraordinary – so too a caps count of 131. All the more so when placed beside whose task it will be to fill his boots when he is finally dragged kicking and screaming away from duties with his beloved Boys in Green.
Like Shane Long.
Aged 27. Caps: 44. Goals: 11. Not a record to be sniffed at and yet when Keane was 27, the age Long is now, he had already amassed 70 caps and scored 29 of his goals in green.
The consensus among rugger folk right now is that we will never see O’Driscoll’s like again. We can say the same for Keane but Long is chief among the Indians hoping to assume primacy from amongst the current tribe of strikers.
With Keane busy in Los Angeles, signing a new contract extension last night, the Hull City striker got his chance to step into the skipper’s shoes and it could hardly have come at a better time for the Tipperary man.
Between them, Long and Nikica Jelavic have managed five goals since their January arrivals at the KC Stadium and yet, as he lined up for his country last night, it was impossible to avoid the sense that the former still has much to prove.
Of his 11 goals since his debut for Ireland in San Marino – remember that night? — over seven years ago only one has come in a competitive fixture and that against Russia in a demoralising 3-2 loss at the Aviva Stadium in October of 2010.
It is 19 months since Long missed Ireland’s last meeting with the Serbs through injury, in Belgrade post-Euro 2012, when his subsequent declarations of fitness were challenged by Giovanni Trapattoni who labelled him idiotic.
And the current gaffer? “If Shane Long comes through in the manner in which he is capable of then that would be terrific,” said Ireland manager Martin O’Neill in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. “Robbie’s not going to be around forever.”
It was a bald assessment for a player who is entering what is held to be a footballer’s prime although Branislav Ivanovic had less quantifiable words to say on Tuesday when he praised the man he would mark last night.
Long out-muscled the Chelsea defender to score for West Bromwich Albion in a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge last September and he was at his heel-snapping best in forcing the error from the same player to open the scoring this time.
The finish, on that occasion, was good but not so much on the half-hour when Wesley Hoolahan played him through and his predilection for spurning gilt-edged chances resurfaced with just the goalkeeper to beat.
It was an incident that may have played on his mind when he was sent through again by Hoolahan with the scores tied at 1-1 and he attempted a chip that dribbled wide when his clever run had bought him time and space to take a touch.
Just 12 minutes later and he was being taken off to a respectful round of applause from the Aviva Stadium crowd that could have been deafening had he delivered his lines with a touch more confidence and assuredness.
Meanwhile, 5,000 miles away on the west coast of America came news that Keane had signed a “multi-year” extension to his contract with LA Galaxy. Looks like the 33-year old will be leading the Irish line for some time yet.
Shane Long’s time has yet to come.
Or, rather, he has yet to grab it.
