Ireland captain Robbie Keane has been given the clearest hint yet that his lack of action at club level could affect his chances of playing for Ireland.
With only a week of the transfer window remaining, the 30-year old is still at Tottenham Hotspur after a proposed move to Birmingham City collapsed, while potential switches to West Ham and Fulham never materialised.
Keane has only made seven appearances for Tottenham in the Premier League this season, five as a substitute, and is firmly down the pecking order of strikers at White Hart Lane, with Harry Redknapp preferring Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavlyuchenko instead.
Keane’s lack of activity has so far impacted little upon his international career, but speaking at the announcement of the Irish squad for the Carling Nations Cup yesterday, Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni indicated that he is willing to consider other options should Keane fail to move away from Spurs.
“If Robbie continues not to play, we can decide,” said Trapattoni.
“After two, three, four months is a problem but at this moment we wait and hope he can be playing again. If he does not find a club, we can evaluate other options before the qualifying game.”
Shay Given is also a man that has been cast into the wilderness at Manchester City, and while Trapattoni admitted that allowances can be made for his position, the options available to him up front may force him to look elsewhere.
“We need players with rhythm, mentality but also condition, he added.
“The goalkeeper is another position; it is different but we can look at other strikers – Long, Walters, Doyle although we don’t want to forget Robbie.”
To read JOE’s take on the Robbie Keane situation, click here.
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