Well, Robbie Keane has finally moved to Villa Park twelve years after John Gregory’s attempt at signing the 19 year old Irish kid from Wolves. John wanted to payr £6m only for (Sir) Douglas to scupper the move by not wanting to pay more than £5.5m. The rest is history – twelve years worth of it.
Is it a case of looking back and wondering if only? Back then, with the forward line consisting of Dublin, Merson, Vassell and Yorke, Robbie Keane, even though he was so young, probably would have pushed us higher than the 6th place at the end of the 1999/2000 season.
It was not to be, but Villa fans can now watch a more mature Robbie Keane, a player who has been at a few clubs and gained experience in several different leagues. Personally, I think the younger Villa players can now learn from Robbie, even though his short term contract means he won’t exactly play the role of a long term mentor. Whatever your opinions though, it is hard to deny that he has matured into a class act, and his 53 international goals go some way to proving that.
As for his ability, Robbie is the type of player who likes to link play up, regularly coming to get the ball in order to assist attacks. Given that Darren Bent likes to use his positional play to get behind defenders, and Gabby likes to get in behind defenders with his pace, but Robbie will give Villa something different. His ability to link play up may well be something that is a missing piece to Villa’s jigsaw, and this will mix the game up a bit. In my mind, his addition, even on a short term basis, will prove to be a valuable asset to Villa.
I know some fans are sceptical of the signing, but I would imagine most are open to the prospect of seeing Robbie in a Villa shirt at last. For me, I only wished I could have seen him as a raw 19 year old for a few seasons rather than for a few weeks. However, it wasn’t meant to be.
For now, I hope everyone gets behind him, and I hope he can make a difference, with his move hopefully lifting some of the gloom and doom surrounding the club, and ideally put some spring back into the play we have lacked this season.
The Author
