Record label will see Keane develop

HERE comes Robbie Keane, a silver stud sparkling in his ear and a smile plastered across his face.

He’s come a long way since the evening seven years ago when as an impish teenager he was sprung from the bench in Olomouc. He’s a record- breaker now.

The strange nature of Wednesday’s non-event was typified by Keane’s performance. Strange that on the night he broke the goal-scoring record, the same old concerns nag about our leading striker. In seven years, and 56 games, he has scored 23 times for his country.

And yet, we wonder. Does Keane possess the natural finishing instinct?

His greatest quality is discovering goal-scoring positions, but all too often, he doesn’t take full advantage of that talent. Keane, having become more mature in the past few years, acknowledges there is much in his game that could be fine-tuned.

“You are learning all the time. I am 24, I am still young and I have lots to learn. There are more things I want to develop. Every game is different and you learn something with each one.”

Despite his rather lacklustre finishing on Wednesday, should he continue at his present rate, Keane might be the first Irish striker to hit the magical half-century mark. Not that the Spurs man is setting such targets.

“I don’t have a target for how many goals I want to score for my country. I don’t believe in putting myself under pressure like that. All I want to do is continue scoring goals for Ireland.”

Perhaps Irish supporters were a little harsh in their assessment of Keane’s performance leaving Lansdowne the other night. After all, he scored our only two goals. But it’s no surprise that his sharp edge has been a bit blunted, considering his recent deployment at White Hart Lane.

Keane has become somewhat of a utility man under Jacques Santini. From playing deep behind Fredric Kanoute and Jermaine Defoe, to a brief spell on the wings, Keane has been moved around as the Frenchman seeks his best system. Of course, the striker is not going to criticise.

“The gaffer has come in with a new system and I have been tried in a few different roles. But it has worked so far. Things are going well at the club and that is the main thing.”

There’s a school of thought that things need to go well for Keane at Spurs. Since his multi-million pound move to Coventry, Keane has been a bit of a footballing nomad. Part of this wasn’t his fault. He moved to Inter Milan and Leeds United at the wrong times, when both clubs were slipping into crisis. Still, Irish supporters are eager for things to work out at Spurs.

He has been more content within the Irish scene in the past couple of years. Of course, he realises how significant he is to the success of this team, evident in his wonderful display in the Amsterdam ArenA last June.

That was his best game for Ireland and when he’s asked about his best goal, the image of him skinning the Dutch defence comes to the fore.

“Of the 23, it’s hard to say what was my favourite. Whenever you score for your country, it is memorable. One of the highlights would have been the goal against Germany in the World Cup. That was one of my most memorable. But one of my best was the goal against Holland. I enjoyed that.”

Maybe he should have equalled Don Givens and Paddy Moore’s joint record of four goals in a game, but it is better he missed against the Faroe Islands and learns, rather than miss against the Swiss and French when it matters.

Keane’s hero, growing up, was John Aldridge. And it took Aldo some time to become prolific in a green shirt. But it was Niall Quinn that Keane singled out for special praise.

“I always think how fortunate I have been to play for so long alongside Quinny for Ireland, he was such a great help to me and to my career. He would always be advising you, on and off the pitch. For any young player coming into the Irish squad, he was always like a father figure, more so for me because I was a striker.”

Their friendship continues despite Quinn’s retirement.

“I was talking to him just before the France game and we were joking about the record. Quinny was just saying ‘I hope you break that thing soon, then everyone would stop ringing me asking me about it’.”

Keane won’t have such concerns for years to come.