Under the Shadow of...Robbie Keane!

Robbie Keane's career started out at his boyhood club, Crumlin United. At the age of 15, he had to make one of the hardest choices in club football: Liverpool or Wolverhampton Wanderers?

Surely not that hard, is it Robbie?

Surprisingly enough, Robbie Keane snubbed his favourite English club—Liverpool—and joined Wolves, and his reason for doing so? "To get more playing time."

While it sounds like a just answer, it surely raised quite a few eyebrows.

He was impressive playing for Wolves' youth team and broke into their first team with ease.

Two seasons and 29 goals later, Robbie Keane signed for Coventry City for a record fee of £6m.

Keane didn't find it too hard to settle at Coventry and he continued to score goals consistently, catching the eye of Europe's elite.

Inter Milan came calling, a hasty move which was deemed a failure before the deal was inked and that's how the cookie crumbled.

Fortunately for Keane, Leeds came to his rescue and their affair was positive (while it lasted). The Irish skipper netted 18 goals in 50 outings before Leeds were rattled by their financial crisis and eventually Robbie Keane arrived at White Hart Lane.

From Glen Hoddle to David Pleat to Jacques Santini to Martin Jol to Clive Allen to Juande Ramos, Keane never let the round-robin of managers at Spurs get the better of him and he grew into a North London legend.

His career hit its peak with Spurs in 2007 where he scored 31 goals in 40 starts.

With Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov at White Hart Lane, Spurs arguably had the Premier League's best strike force.

Ironically, both the strikers departed for Liverpool and Manchester United, respectively, and Tottenham Hotspurs' new campaign crashed as the Lilywhites claimed only two points from their first eight Premier League games and therefore Juande Ramos was shown the door.

Robbie Keane's affair with Liverpool got off to a relatively poor start. Keane failed to settle in quickly, Fernando Torres was riding high at Anfield, and speculation made it sound like Keane could leave Anfield in January.

Lately, all of that has changed!

Keane is scoring goals regularly; he's finally found his feet at Merseyside, and perhaps more importantly, he's scoring goal in big matches like Liverpool's 1-1 draw with Arsenal.

He has helped to ensure that Liverpool start the new year in first place with seven goals this campaign.

Robbie Keane - We Salute You!

An Overall Career Grade - Grade B-

Remarks - 'Under The Shadow' believes Robbie Keane could've been a much bigger player but his consistent performances with Spurs have earned him the right to play for a bigger club like Liverpool and he's beginning to prove his calibre at a grander stage.