Fond farewell to Robbie Keane the start of a new chapter for Ireland

So just how far should his team-mates put themselves out in trying to ensure that Robbie Keane signs off with a goal tonight?

Well, Martin O’Neill has a little bit of advice for any of his players who allow selflessness to get the better of them against Oman at the Aviva Stadium.

“If they’re in a better goal-scoring position and they decide to lay one back to Robbie and he misses,” the manager mused yesterday, “well, Robbie’s retiring and there’s a fairly decent chance the other boy will retire as well.”

As intended, O’Neill’s wit got a big laugh at his pre-match press conference but the remark also underlined what he called “the balance” he hopes to strike tonight given that, while the occasion marks the end of the road for Ireland’s record cap-holder and goal-scorer, it’s also the one and only warm-up opportunity the Irish team has before they embark on a new journey which they hope will take them to Russia for the World Cup finals in 2018.

So even though this is a match against international minnows, which is sandwiched between the competing blockbuster demands of the Robbie tribute show and transfer deadline day, O’Neill insists it can still serve an important purpose in giving fringe players and those who need game time a useful run-out ahead of the much stiffer tests to come.

That would suggest that, among others, we can expect to see Harry Arter get a chance to make up for lost time, Callum O’Dowda get a second opportunity to stake a claim and, fresh from signing for Newcastle United, Daryl Murphy look to avail of the closing of Robbie Keane’s goal account to finally and belatedly open his own.

And not forgetting a player who is always close to Martin O’Neill’s heart. Aiden McGeady’s club career may be in limbo but, the manager stressed yesterday: “He can continue to play an important part for us, considering the ability he possesses.”

Looking beyond tonight to the World Cup campaign which begins in Belgrade next Monday, and which sees Ireland in a group containing Wales, Austria, Georgia and Moldova, as well as Serbia, O’Neill made no attempt to sweeten the pill.

“We’re going into a competition now where, I have to say, it will be exceptionally difficult,” he said.

“I know that we had three of the first four games in the Euros away from home but look at the matches now we have coming up — you don’t want to be out of it before you’re really in it.

“So we need to get the transfer deadline out of the way, play this game against Oman, get some players some playing time and get our minds set for Serbia and get ready for it.

“My own view of the group is that the winners may have less points than other (group winners) because I think teams are capable of beating each other. And because it’s going to be like that, we want to get started as quickly as possible and leave it on the field of play rather than talking about it.”

But not, of course, before what is bound to an emotionally highly charged night at Lansdowne Road, as Keane brings his stellar 18 years in the green shirt to a close.

O’Neill, however, is insistent that this should not be the last we see of the Tallaght man in Irish football.

“The most important thing is that he stays in the game in some capacity,” he said.

“We were chatting the other evening and I said: ‘Just stay in the game’. Once you retire at club level if you’re not in, you will miss it.

“He’s doing his badges and everything is possible. I don’t see why not.

“There’s no reason why he or any of these lads who have management or coaching in mind should not go and further that.

“I notice now that some of the ex-players are getting themselves involved (in Irish underage football) and I think that’s a really healthy thing and I would encourage it.”

More immediately, there are Irish players whose club futures remain up in the air as the transfer window gets set to close.

Robbie Brady, one of Ireland’s Euro 2016 stars, has been linked with Leicester and West Ham over the summer, while Burnley look set to beat Hull in the race to sign Jeff Hendrick.

Yesterday, O’Neill said he would allow players to leave the camp on transfer business if required.

“Yes, that’s not a problem at all,” he said. “If anything happens to any of the players, they have permission to go because they are trying to get their futures sorted out, and while it might be a wee bit of an awkward time, it’s just inevitable these things happen, so it’s not problem at all.”

Meanwhile, having sat out Monday’s session with what was described as “a minor knock”, any small concern Keane could miss his own farewell party was extinguished yesterday as he took a full part in training.

The only question now is how long he will get on the pitch against Oman, and O’Neill’s tongue was firmly back in his cheek as he pondered surely the most straightforward selection decision of his career.

“There’s a fairly decent chance he will start the game,” he offered. “Is he one goal behind Gerd Muller? Is he? Well, he’d better do it in the first 20 minutes of the game because he’s going to find time pressing, really pressing.”