Robbie Keane is Re-Earning His Spurs

There is no escaping it.  Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer policy this January was confused.  Time will tell if Redknapp’s interesting choice of signings prove inspired or spectacularly lacking in imagination.  For now, we must fidget (Spurs fans mostly) in the knowledge that it raised far more questions than it answered.

A Spurs fan myself, I viewed the final day capture of Robbie Keane as the highlight of the new (or invariably not) arrivals.  The other outfield acquisitions were simply ok.  I for one—and I may be alone in this conclusion—perceived the re-signing of Defoe as a backwards step. 

To put it bluntly, it was no coincidence that while Keane and Berbatov secured moves to bigger and better clubs, Defoe managed only to move sideways.  The return of Chimbonda, too, did little to quicken the pulse although I would concede that he is likely to bring some versatility to a struggling back four.  Palacious was a more exciting purchase but at £14m appears unproven and a risk. 

Keane, by contrast, possesses a three dimensional game, the ability to thrill and, at a net gain of somewhere in the region of £6million, extraordinary value for money.  Just how it came to be that he was permitted to make such a sensational return after just six months is yet to be fully understood.

Keane’s time at Liverpool, barely underway, was ended prematurely.  In part, this was on account of Keane’s inability to rediscover the outstanding form that had underwritten his transfer fee.  Yet, I would suggest that this tells but half of the story and that the full rationale behind Keane’s exit lies beyond the pale of his ability as a player.  A more likely explanation can be found in the ongoing saga of Rafa Benitez’s fractious relationship with the club’s owners and Board.

It was reported earlier this week that Benitez is finally close to signing a new deal.  In truth, the bedrock of a deal appears to have been in place for some time; the key sticking point in the negotiations has been around the Spaniard’s insistence that his office exerts greater control over the club’s transfer policy. 

Challenging the extent to which this was the case, Benitez has conceded he asked for the power to make his “own decisions and run the team as I see fit.”  Against this backdrop, Keane appears to have been made a pawn in a subtle yet ruthless power struggle.

Given the vast transfer fee involved, it is highly unlikely that Benitez strongly opposed the signing of Keane in the summer.  Whether or not this was a player Benitez actively pursued behind closed doors is unknown but Keane featured heavily for Liverpool in the beginning of the season, suggesting that he had his manager’s support. 

Indeed, Benitez appeared to retain faith in the player towards the end of the year and was rewarded with Keane’s spectacular goal at The Emirates, followed swiftly by a further two goals against Bolton on Boxing Day. 

It was strange, then, that within barely a fortnight of this potential breakthrough in form, Keane suddenly found himself surplus to requirements and unable to force his way into a side struggling for goals.  

Benitez’s decision to freeze Keane out of the first team in the second half of January invited Spurs to make a move.  Moreover, coming as it did during the transfer window, this mini exile sent a clear message to his Board—that Benitez would not indulge players who were not his own.  Aware of his strong hand, particularly with the Real Madrid job due to become open in the summer, Benitez prevailed and Keane was on his way.

Of course, to reduce Keane’s doomed spell solely to Benitez’s pursuit of power is unrepresentative.  Keane had, by and large, struggled for form all season and was undoubtedly lacking in confidence.  Plus, Keane did make 25 appearances in a red shirt—he was not starved of opportunities to prove himself. 

Ultimately, however, it is difficult to balance these facts with the sheer speed with which Keane was dispatched, Benitez displaying a calculating pragmatism once the transfer window had come around, all of a sudden choking off Keane’s opportunities to fight for his survival.

Naturally, Keane’s departure, coming as quickly as it did, raises the question of whether Keane has what it takes to play for a top four club.  Alan Hansen, backing Benitez’s decision and never one to mince his words, was damning in his analysis of Keane’s brief stay, stating “the simple truth of the matter is that the lad came to Liverpool and didn’t play well.”

A not wholly unreasonable view but does Keane’s uncontested loss of form preclude him from being able to ply his trade at the very highest level?  Implicit in his comment that “six months is not a long time to settle into a new club but that’s modern day football for you” was Hansen’s take: if he was good enough, Keane would have settled more readily.

Mark Lawrenson, another former Red, holds a similar view.  Just this afternoon, as Liverpool trailed 1-0 to Manchester City, Lawrenson said that the decision to sell Keane was the correct one.  Instead, Benitez’s mistake was to not line up a replacement to support Liverpool’s title push.  If today’s result and performance is anything to go by, it will likely be this aspect of the transfer that lingers the longest.

Whichever side of the fence you come down on, what few would dispute is that Keane will not get another stab at the so-called big time unless the opportunity arises at White Hart Lane. An unlikely prospect given the past 18 months and, let us not forget, the catalyst for this failed transfer in the first place.

Keane’s exit from the Lane in the summer underlined Tottenham’s inability to challenge the top four.  Having come so close to a breakthrough in 2005, Spurs seemed to be closing the gap only on those clubs below them.  The extraordinary demise of Ramos, after such a promising start, was well under way by the time Liverpool came calling and, at 28 years of age, Keane’s decision to leave was the correct one.     

For Spurs fans, seething from the departure of Sol Campbell in perpetuity, the loss of a prized asset to a bigger club is always a bitter bill to swallow.  Yet, with Keane, I would hazard a guess that for every dissenter, there was a well wisher. 

For six and a half years Keane was unstinting in his commitment to the club and, having blossomed and matured as a footballer in the second half of this spell, had earned the right to pursue the silverware that is won in May, not March.

This is a roundabout way of saying that Keane was welcomed back to the club with open arms.  Keane has an irrepressible aura about him, a mischievous sparkle behind the eyes.  Redknapp was keen to impress as much on anyone who would listen, asserting that Keane had breathed new life into his flailing squad and raised everyone’s spirits—an impact that surely crystallized his decision to make Keane club captain. 

As for the fans, the hero’s welcome afforded Keane as he took to the pitch against Arsenal spoke volumes.

Keane will be eager to rebuild his reputation after his doomed spell at Anfield and could take a big step tomorrow night, as Spurs travel to Hull desperately in need of three points.  While Liverpool’s lack of fire power will be making the headlines in the morning, here’s hoping that Keane’s very own could be writing them come the evening.