Doyle: Robbie will bounce back

KEVIN DOYLE has backed Robbie Keane to reclaim his place at the forefront of Irish football.

Earlier this week, Giovanni Trapattoni warned that Keane’s uncertain club situation meant his Irish shirt was no longer guaranteed but the Wolves striker argues that Keane’s stature should earn him some leeway at international level.

Speaking in Dublin yesterday, as reports continued to grow that a deal for Keane with West Ham was imminent, Doyle backed his international strike partner to put a difficult time at Spurs firmly behind him.

“What I think will happen is he’ll go somewhere in the next couple of days and do very well there and it will be no problem,” said Doyle. “And it will be a bonus for us because he will be fresh and looking to do very well.

“He’s our record goalscorer by a stupid amount of goals, he’s one of our most capped players and he’s our captain. If ever there was a player to earn the leeway of not playing for a few months and still get picked for an international team, he does. He turns up all the time for internationals when other players of similar stature don’t. He has that many caps he could easily just retire but he doesn’t, he keeps going. And, anyway, I think he will be moving in the next few days and playing regularly after that. I think that’s nailed on.”

Doyle insists that, when it comes to international duty, he has noticed no lack of match sharpness in Keane, despite the Dubliner’s prolonged spell on the sidelines at White Hart Lane.

“No, because he’s naturally just a fit fella,” he said. “He’s not a fella who puts on weight or anything like that. Also, when you’re not playing for your club and you come in for international duty, you treat it more as a chance to get fit and play the games. Whereas if you’ve got a friendly match on a Wednesday night and a club game on a Saturday, you’re nearly more looking after yourself for the weekend. So you take it as a positive as well, every game will be important to him. The game against Wales he’ll be using for his fitness and he’ll be putting everything into that.”

Doyle also believes that Keane’s achievements in the game lend him added value in the international football arena.

“He and Damien Duff are known by opposition managers and people around the world in terms of stature,” he pointed out. “They have that credibility that younger players coming in can see and I think it gives them a boost to play with such experienced players. Robbie is someone that can put his point of view across and help everybody. He is not afraid to do that.”

Doyle even goes so far as to predict that the 30 year-old Irish skipper will still be a key player for his country come the 2014 World Cup campaign.

“I suppose it all depends on your club situation and everything that goes with that, whether you are playing or not. But he is definitely fit enough and I suppose with Ireland we have not been over-taxed when it comes to playing summer tournaments, so he would not be burnt out that way. He is not playing Champions League either so he would be fresh enough and can definitely keep going on for another while.”

Doyle is also heartened by the current red-hot form of his former club colleague Shane Long at Reading. Asked if he get regularly texts from his pal updating him on his goalscoring exploits, Doyle replied with a laugh: “Yeah, I text him back, ‘Piss off’!

I remember what it was like in the Championship’ (laughter). I’m delighted for Longy. He has always had all the ability – strength and skill and speed. It was just about getting a run of games and playing every week to show what he can do. He’s been excellent and they’re on the cusp of getting into the play-offs now.

“If they can keep Longy there they have every chance.

“He’s also done excellently for Ireland in the last few games but then I think he always has. I know the manager likes him a lot as well. As do the players, because even when he’s not playing he’s nice around the place. He doesn’t moan or sulk if he’s not picked. He still keeps a smile on his face and trains hard and looks to try and get in the team. That helps the players around him and helps keep him on the favoured side of the manager.”

Speaking of Trapattoni, Doyle says he was relieved to hear that, not for the first time, worrying reports about the state of the veteran’s health proved to be wide of the mark.

“I heard about the stroke and I think he proved that one wrong. He is as fit as ever. He still does the stretches and the warm-up and he is as fresh as anyone. He’s 20 years older than my dad and moving 10 times better. I’ve said it to my dad ‘your knee is gone, your hip is fecked’ and the boss is jogging and stretching with us. I tell him to take a bit of inspiration from him but it doesn’t seem to get through.

“But I was relieved to hear that the manager was okay. Definitely. Everyone loves him and everyone really respects him. We want him to be managing us and we want him to be fit and healthy. And that is the case from what I can see.”

Doyle was speaking at the launch of a €10million funding programme for grassroots Irish football by the national team’s primary sponsors, 3. The programme offers FAI-affiliated clubs the chance of earning cash when their members switch to 3.

For more details see www.3football.ie