Stephen McPhail believes that Robbie Keane will have an important role to play in the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2016 campaign, even if Martin O’Neill does not select him for the final squad for the championships.
Former Ireland midfielder McPhail is confident that his former team-mate will get himself as fit as possible and be ready to go in the summer, and if that is the case, he cannot see the manager overlooking such an important player.
“For me, Robbie has to go, end of story,” said McPhail speaking on RTÉ Sport’s soccer podcast The Panel.
”If he’s fit or even if he’s not fit, he has to go. He brings so much experience and is probably the best player in Irish history in terms of what he has done and he is unbelievable to have around the group.
“Once we get Robbie fit, I’m sure he will have a part to play in the summer. He’ll sort himself out, get himself sharp, as fit as possible and ready to go for the summer.”
McPhail also said that he still sees the same hunger and drive in the Irish record-goalscoring striker as he did when they grew up together in their schooldays.
“The hunger that he still has to look for his next cap and next goal, that’s Robbie all over and he has been like that since I grew up with him at 14 or 15 years of age.
“He’s always hungry, always pushing himself and always scrutinising himself. He’ll be looking to get involved and have his last say.”
McPhail was also posed a question as to whether Keane should be brought to the tournament even if he does not make the final 23 and whether he might be insulted by such a request.
“Knowing Robbie as I do, there is no way that he would see it as an insult. He wants to help and you saw it during the campaign, when he was on the bench he was first out with the warm-ups, he was first leading the boys.
“If Martin says you’re not involved but I want you to come, he’ll park that (disappointment). There’s no Ego with Rob in terms of what he has done. No one can question what he has done. He’ll want the country to do well and he’ll especially want to be there to help the young boys.”
But McPhail was also quick to recall the unique goalscoring qualities that Keane brings to the Ireland set-up.
“If there was a 90th-minute penalty, there is only one player in the whole squad that you want in that position.”
McPhail also believes that Wes Hoolahan is the man to knit the Ireland performance together and is someone who should be held up as an example to young Irish players, such is his quality and ability.
“He has to be involved, he just makes the game tick for us. He makes everything simple for other players, brings other players into the game.
“I don’t think we have any other player like him in the squad. I think he is huge for Ireland and I would love to see him play just off the front man, in Long, because he can pick him out as well.
“A player like Wes should be promoted to the death in a small country like ours. Our kids and our schoolboy teams need to watch players like Wes because we need more like him in this country.”
McPhail went on to tell a great anecdote about his own involvement in Giovanni Trapattoni’s first Ireland squad where they were brought off for a week in Portugal but soon realised that he, nor Hoolahan, would not be a player that would fit the manager’s mould.
“What are we doing here,” said Hoolahan to McPhail, after three days of Trap tactics.
How times have changed.
