Kiely questions Keane’s return

DESPITE the blanket coverage in the Irish media, and the prospect of the French being over-turned when the World Cup qualifiers start in September, not everyone is sure if Roy Keane has made the right decision in coming back to international football.

“It is a bit of a surprise,” said Charlton keeper Dean Kiely, who retired from international football last year.

“When Roy made his decision at the World Cup, it seemed to me and everybody else it was final, 100% and there was no going back.

“I think it's been well-documented he's needed a rest this year and Sir Alex Ferguson has given him time to recuperate and get back in terms of fitness,” said his former international team-mate, although he didn’t believe Keane’s return would upset things in the Irish camp.

“People make their own decisions and, although it is a team sport, it is a group of individuals and Roy as an individual made a decision which he thought was right.

“Here we are now along the line and he has totally back-tracked his decision which again leaves me to believe it was all maybe a bit hollow and there were other things and political motivations behind it.

“But I don’t think Roy’s return will disrupt things in the squad.

“It is well-documented that he's a world class player and he really is. He did bring an element of aloofness, separation and is detached a little bit from the squad.”

Meanwhile in France, life went on as normal despite Keane’s announcement of an international return. French football manager Aimes Jacequet didn’t even issue a statement on the fact that Ireland had now got its talisman back for the qualifying campaign. Of course, the World Cup qualifiers is still at the back of many French minds, with the team expected to win Euro 2004 in Portugal this year.

“There hasn’t been a peep in France,” says Phillipe Auclair, London correspondent for the French football magazine, France Football. “It is like people are totally unconcerned about it. French football fans have more things on their mind. It has been reported, but only as to what Brian Kerr and Keane said, and of course what Alex Ferguson thinks about it.”

The question in France seems to be how big a boost Keane will be to the Irish team.

“People are asking questions about how many games he is going to play, how much he is going to be available. They are more interested in Manchester United’s reaction to it and what Ferguson has said. I think Keane is still considered a great player, but maybe he is not considered in France as good a midfielder as he was two or three years ago. People think that he is in decline and maybe that is why it hasn’t registered. People are asking themselves how much of a difference it is going to make.”

According to the bookies, it is going to make a serious difference with Irish bookies already altering their odds with regard to Switzerland and Israel in Ireland’s group. However, with Keane and Man United failing to make the splash in European waters, Keane’s star has fallen slightly in France.