26 Jun 2026 19:40:44
Bit of a random one Ed001, but almost 20 years ago now we signed Robbie Keane and then immediately got rid of him 6 months later. Any idea on why we signed him in the first place, if Rafa even wanted him and why we got rid so soon instead of giving him more time?

{Ed001's Note - we signed him because Rafa wanted him and rated him. He turned out to be a complete bell and he got rid quickly. Man is a mercenary prick who should be embarrassed to turn up to legends events and pretend to have any right to be there, but he will do anything for a bit of extra money, even rip teammates off.}

1.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:16:06
Sounds a right C***.

2.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:12:08
Thanks Ed001.

You really got to be a massive bell to be axed in less than 6 months!

Did he have much respect at Spurs or was he equally disliked there in the end?

{Ed001's Note - it was Spuds where he caused issues. When they were banned from having an Xmas party by Redknapp, Keane set them up on a booze cruise to Ireland. He made a fortune on it by ripping off his teammates and also got them absolutely messed up. The fans might like him, but he was a dick everywhere he went. Horrible man.}

3.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:28:31
This is actually what happened...

Rafa wanted to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa in the summer of 2008 as replacement for Alonso.

Rick Parry suggested Robbie Keane. Rafa was happy to sign him on the basis that Barry was also signed, as he was thinking of a system that both could play in.

Aston Villa refused to sell Barry so the deal fell through.

Rick Parry continued to progress the signing against Benitez's wishes.

Once Keane was signed, he was effectively a square peg in a round hole, and Rafa refused to alter his tactics/formation to fit Keane in. This resulted in Keane being benched most games (some say this was Rafa sticking two fingers up at Rick Parry).

Harry Redknapp then becomes Spurs Manager and Ole 'Arry loves a transfer bargain so we sold Keane back to Spurs 6 months later for a £8m loss.

{Ed001's Note - no it is not, Keane was benched as he was unable to keep his nose clean and the club were desperate to get rid.}

4.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:29:54
I read in Brian Reade's book An Epic Swindle that Rafa was intent on Barry and Keane as he thought they'd compliment each other. When the Texan Cowboys Hicks and Gillette pulled the plug on Barry, Rafa spat his dummy out and would only play him intermittently. An Epic Swindle is a great read btw.

{Ed001's Note - it is not the truth. He couldn't put in print what did happen.}

5.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:38:50
He didn't fit the role he was brought in for, nor did he want to, that was a major issue, he didn't get on with Rafa either, and must have made a pass at Ed's missus. Keane along with a large number of other players, got ripped off in a classic Ponzi scheme by a former pro called McIndoe (a journeyman midfielder in the lower leagues), who promised 20% monthly returns; naturally, teammates were unintentionally roped in through word of mouth.

I'm guessing this is what Ed means by ripping people off. Keane had nothing to do with McIndoes scheme and actually lost money himself.

{Ed001's Note - no I did not mean that. You are miles off. No idea why you even brought that up, totally unrelated.}

6.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:42:10
I heard Ed's story about the Spurs party from an independent source. I was actually going to post it myself until I saw I'd been beaten to it.

It apparently happened after he went back there.

7.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:48:43
It's a shame he was a dick and couldn't get more minutes. I remember we came 2nd that year and it was quite close. In many games he was left out or on the bench, and we were crying out for a goal scorer.

No doubt he was talented and if he played more we might have got turned a few draws into wins, who knows.
At the time I blamed Rafa for not using him. Guess I didn't know the full story.

8.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 20:57:29
I wrote it when you had only mentioned he ripped teammates off Ed, before you mentioned the Christmas do. I don't remember any talk of him ripping off the team for the trip to Dublin. He probably would have been Spurs' highest-paid player at the time, can't imagine him ripping off the lads for the sake of a few quid

{Ed001's Note - he 100% did so. Why would it surprise you? He was happy to take bloodsoaked money in Isn'treal, he will do anything for money.}

9.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 21:04:09
Keane spent most of his time in Casinos!

10.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 21:31:59
People who grift tend not to grift because they're poor Chewy.

11.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 21:35:54
Lots of Irishmen having their hearts shattered right now. Sounds like he was the Irish John Terry.

12.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 21:48:56
He fleeced the FAI, he is a proper
Tuesday
Wednesday
And
Thursday person.

13.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 22:36:56
He was also a massive investor in Colombia's main product. ?

14.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 22:39:01
The FAI, who have a long-standing history of 'mismanaging' funds, had no money to buy Keane out. He was contracted for 4 years, but McCarthy was replaced by Kenny, who brought in Duff and Andrews instead. What was Keane to do, give up the wages he was contracted for? Sorry, but that doesn't happen. It was a s*** show, alright, but it was entirely the FAI's fault.

They didn't even have a buyout clause or termination wage structure in his contract. Not to mention, they needed a government bailout just to stay afloat. Add it to the long list of f*** ups made by the FAI, a complete joke of an association; the people who run it are fleecing it every day of the week.

15.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 21:45:01
Is he as big a knob as Dean Saunders, Ed? Someone else you don't think too much of, if memory serves me. Apologies if I've got that wrong.

{Ed001's Note - probably worse, Saunders at least tried, he was just crap.}

16.) 26 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 22:46:26
Another way to look at it Chewy, he took a dodgy deal from a dodgy person (Delaney) and then kept the money after the dodgy person had been outed.

17.) 27 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 23:18:23
Something Red, he had a contract, end of. Are you gonna give up your wages if your boss isn't doing his job properly? No.

18.) 27 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 23:54:37
Liked his coffee, did he, Barry? ??

19.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 00:12:31
Coffee by the lines, Ron, old boy. ?

20.) 27 Jun 2026
26 Jun 2026 23:32:13
Cheers for the reply Ed. Interesting that Reade a fairly respected sports journalists omitted such details, but I guess he wants to stay in the club.

21.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 00:13:23
I remember you telling me years ago what one of the main issues with Keane was Ed001.
Something about drinking too much Diet Coke? ?

22.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 09:03:30
Keano loved a lidda bidda rolacola.

23.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 08:16:39
Do you mean he actually couldn't keep his nose clean rather than metaphorically Ed?

24.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 11:04:19
Keane had more "boyhood clubs" than there were actual clubs in the Football League.

Happy to take money wherever he could find it.

25.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 11:24:02
Ed01, thank heavens we had a "No idiot" policy in our transfer strategy under Klopp. because there would be nowhere in hell where Klopp would have signed the likes of Robbie Kean.

26.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 11:56:49
Potassium - Quite a few already knew it. He took €250k a year from the FAI to do nothing for two years.

When Mick McCarthy was made Ireland manager, in a frankly ludicrous arrangement whereby he'd have the job for 2 years and then be replaced by U21 manager Stephen Kenny, Robbie Keane was appointed to his coaching staff. But the head of the FAI, John Delaney gave Robbie Keane a longer deal than he gave McCarthy, wanting Keane to stay on the coaching staff despite Kenny saying he didn't want him.

Prior to Kenny taking over it comes out in the wash that John Delaney was an even bigger grifter than Keane and had nearly bankrupted the FAI.

So of course, Kenny takes over, promptly brings in his own coaches (including Anthony Barry who's now in the England setup, so it's not like he was getting eejits) and has no use for Keane.

Keane now has a deal made by very dodgy individual, on behalf a Football Association that hasn't got a pot to piss in, to do a job he's no longer doing, in his hand. So you'd expect the guy who's made tens of millions in his career, has the most caps and most goals for the Irish National Team, and is arguably its greatest ever player player to not take his pay whilst he's sitting on his backside at home? Or maybe negotiate a part payoff? Nah. Robbie took the lot. And threatened to sue people who called him out for it.

Now for clarity, I know what he did was perfectly legal and it was the FAI's fault for giving him a deal like that, but you'd expect a guy in Robbie Keane's position, who had Robbie Keane's career and Robbie Keane's earnings to do the cash strapped Football Association of his own country a solid and not take €500k for doing nothing.

I mean Salah apparently didn't get a payoff the last year of his contract here. I think Joe Cole and Mascherano also waived money they were 'owed' when they left too.

27.) 27 Jun 2026
27 Jun 2026 12:17:33
@Oli, Klopp didn't sign the players.