COULD ROBBIE KEANE BE IRELAND'S GREATEST FOOTBALLER?

Go on, try it out.  Do a sample survey of your mates.  Ask them to nominate the best player ever to play for Ireland.  You'll get a selection of different answers.  The younger crowd will probably pick Roy Keane or Paul McGrath.  Older punters may plump for Liam Brady or John Giles.  There might even be a few takers for Packie Bonner or Shay Given.  But no-one will select Robbie Keane.  Unless Claudine is one of your mates.

In fact, mention Robbie in conversation and chances are someone will rant about how he shouldn't be in the team anymore, he doesn't do anything except run around waving his arms in the air and Shane Long is a better player.  More about Shane Long anon but maybe it's time to examine exactly what Robbie has brought to the party over the course of the last twelve years.

It certainly seems as though he has been around forever but it's easy to forget he is still only 30.  He has 105 caps for his country and is easily the youngest ever Irish international to achieve this feat.   In addition, no-one has captained their country more often.

However, it's his goalscoring record for Ireland that takes him into the ranks of the extraordinary.  He has scored 46 goals in those 105 appearances (a little less than a goal every two games which is very impressive for international football).  The next closest to him is Niall Quinn with just 21 goals.  While we have not been blessed with many great strikers over the years, the disparity is almost embarrassing.

This tally currently places him 19^th in the list of world all time goal-scorers (most of those ahead of him have retired) and, as things stand, he requires just six more goals to reach the top ten.  Of course, we must compare him to our friends across the water (this is necessary in all such discussions as we will never get over the little brother rivalry!).  Their highest scorer ever is Bobby Charlton with 49 (in 106 appearances) so surely Robbie will overtake him soon.

One argument frequently levelled against him is that he doesn't score enough in competitive matches and that many of his goals are cheap ones.  Again, this doesn't really stack up.  By my calculations, 31 of his goals have been in competitive matches and while they not all been against top class competition, it's important to bear in mind that all goalscorers must score a hefty percentage against whipping boys and if they didn't, you would have to ask why.

He has, however, scored important goals throughout his Ireland career.  He has only played in one major finals, the 2002 World Cup, but scored three times in four matches, including that famous goal against Germany and the nerveless penalty in the Spanish match.  It's easy to forget that he was only 21 at the time.

In addition, other stand out goals include the fantastic finish against France in THAT match and a poachers strike against Macedonia in his most recent outing which turned out to be what could yet be a crucial winner.  Over the years, he has scored important goals against Yugoslavia, Croatia, Holland, Italy and other equally significant qualifying matches.

The argument now goes that he is past his best and should be slowly moved out to make for Shane Long.   There is no doubt that Long has been excellent in recent appearances for Ireland but, even ignoring the relevant arguments that he is too similar to Kevin Doyle, surely it would be folly to ignore Keane's  experience and record in big matches at such a significant point in the qualifying process.

No doubt there will come a time in the not too distant future when either the manager or the player decide that they have had enough and maybe that is the time to properly examine his legacy.  But for the time being, perhaps the next time that pub discussion of Ireland's greatest comes up, you might throw a spanner with Robbie's name on it into the works?