Keogh - heading for the exit?
I’ve only ever had my loyalty and love of the Wolves questioned on one occasion.
That came on Tuesday August 18 2009 after we’d secured our first ever away win in the Premiership, courtesy of a faint Andy Keogh header in the far corner.
For one fan, whose name I forget, it appeared to matter little that we’d beaten Wigan, but far more important to ram it down my throat that Keogh had ‘proved me wrong’ before advising me to tootle off to the Hawthorns for the foreseeable future. (Well, you get the gist)
I wonder what he’d make things now, after Keogh’s Molineux career appeared to come full circle against Stoke City on Saturday afternoon.
If you want to avoid questions about your parentage and supporting credentials, it might be best to keep your opinions to yourself.
I’ll stick my head above the parapet for the sake of a blog and a good old chinwag.
On Saturday afternoon, Keogh was a disturbing ghost of Molineux past, putting in the most lifeless, listless and utterly dangerous performance seen since Gordon Brown met that bigoted Rochdale woman on the election trail.
It’s always been something of an irony that Keogh is so well mannered and unassuming when at the very same time he is causing a near civil war amongst hundreds of fans.
If you are a fan of Keogh’s, you see the bigger picture. You’re a purist. If you’re not, you must surely sit in the South Bank and drag your knuckles along Waterloo Road, apparently.
So why is it that this one player has divided so much opinion like no other player I can ever remember playing for Wolves?
Maybe it’s because Keogh always was a hard worker. He always used to cover more blades of grass than any other striker in just about any other league and was selfless to a fault. He could make you feel tired just watching him, and proud to have his name on the back of your shirt.
If only he could repeat his heroics away at Sheffield Wednesday, home to Hull City and home to QPR (to name but three games), when John Gregory positively pined for a player of his ilk in an after-match press conference.
If only he could cover the Britannia Stadium pitch like 2007/08, while Freddy Eastwood idly watched on with his hands on his hips. I could have cried for him that day.
For me, his inability to hit cow’s arse with a banjo has never mattered much. He was utter tripe in front of goal when he first came. He’s still utter tripe in front of goal now.
It is more his apologetic, hunched demeanor that has worried me for the past two years, when even a lengthy run in a successful, goal-laden team couldn’t rouse him from an on-field paralysis.
Maybe Pro-Zone would prove me wrong, but he now seems to have run through his Molineux career to stand still, offering none of his brilliant defensive work from the front.
When coupled with a goal ratio of about 1 in 6, it’s a wonder he’s still here now. With an aching chasm in our forward line and the need for 25 quality squad men, maybe he won’t be for much longer.
If that’s the case, then we should toast him for the gut-busting good times and not the shadow of a man we’re seeing today.
I’ve got to believe we’re in the hunt for another striker and I hope to God it’s not Caleb Folan, as has been reported.
I just don’t get Mick’s logic when it comes to strikers at the moment. We shipped out The Hoff and Vokes on loan, as well as selling Iwelumo to Burnley.
Now we’re faced with either keeping a completely shot Andy Keogh as fourth striker or swapping him for some equally poor forward who can’t even get into the Hull side.
Please prove me wrong Mick and bring in another forward with a bit of quality. I cried out for Dindane over the summer and someone like him would be the required standard.
Can’t shake the feeling that Mick probably wants a target man (which makes sense in a way). But why get Folan when Iwelumo was probably just as good, if not better?
I for one believe Folan is only paper-tallk, Thomas.
and I don’t believe Keogh will go anywhere. One game proves nothing. He will be back and will be fit and in form again.
And we have the possibility to add strikers from the Development team if necessary. Winnall and maybe Cassidy could at least do a job as substitutes if needed. They got to get a chance sometime. Hopefully against Southend in the League Cup.
I think Keogh is a class player, for the championship. I’m happy for him to stay at Wolves but he’s not good enough for much more than the rest of this season, perhaps only until the winter transfer period.
I’ve not been impressed with the other names that we’ve been linked with, Folan?!!!!!!
Also who is going to be alot better than Keogh and also be willing to be 4th choice striker? it’d have to be someone young and untried, like Vokes…..
I don’t get how Keogh is even Championship class? He had a good first 6 months and then wasn’t good enough for 2 years. He’s only proved for a prolonged period of time to be good enough for league. Therein lies the problem. Nobody in league 1 can afford £2.5mil. I’d be incredibly annoyed if he was still here come 1st Sept even if it meant us signing Folan. I remember being constantly reminded by people that Keogh was picked in Ireland squads and that Trapp knows more than me. Trapp does know more than me. That’s why even Folan is above Keogh in the pecking order for Ireland. Believe it or not his latest performance for Ireland was even worse than that against Stoke.
Looks like Keogh is still dividing opinion judging by the comments so far.
I have never seen him as a hard-working player in any effective meaningful use of the term. Yes, he closes down the goalkeeper (pointless) and he shuffles around closing down full-backs – but never with a conviction that prevents them crossing the ball. It has always baffled me that SEB would be called lazy in comparison. It strikes me that SEB just appreciates far better how to use his energy on a football field in a useful way.
As a goal scorer? His record simply stinks. Less than 1 in 5 when he has played more games in League 1 than the Premiership. Aikiwolves calls him a class player in the Championship.. well he’s 24 and I think the time has come to go prove it. He may be capable of consistently grabbling 10 goals a season at that level but I’d be surprised.
Of course, it is not our opinion that matters, it is that of McCarthy. I’m sure Mick will send the lad packing with words of praise and such like but, as with Collins, the boss has come to see that the lad can play no part in where the club now wants to go.
As Ben implies, even when his lack of ability is pushed to one side, he is now a dangerous liability as has been proven by his last 2 competitive appearances – a ridiculous attempted lob against Arsenal that helped cost us a point, followed up by an airy-fairy pass on his own area against Stoke that could well have cost us two. Mick McCarthy has proven he will tolerate incompetence but what he will not tolerate is mental weakness and in those 2 instances Keogh has shown his manager he lacks the savvy or the character to be relied upon at the highest level.
compared to Frankowski, Rousell, Eastwood, Claridge I’d say he was class! What I meant by my comment was that he’s not good enough for the prem but he can bring hard work and commitment to a team in the champo, he can drag defenders out of position and make it easier for other strikers to play well.
Mick obviously doesn’t have Keogh in mind for the long term – we’ve moved onto far better play
If we replace him before the transfer window closes who do we get in?
You’d think a hard working player like Keogh would be consistent, but he’s not. In his first two premier league games he was class, he looked more comfortable in the premier league as he is a clever player. But since his injury he hasn’t convinced me at all.
He is definitely good enough for the championship, one year for us he not only score 11 but set up 10 too which means he creates as well. I don’t see him here for the long term and would not be surprised if he is gone by the end of the month.
And god please, don’t let us sign Folan.
I’ve said before that Keogh is like Emile Heskey – players love playing with him because he’s so unselfish, but he’s no goalscorer. I imagine we’ll see him scoring for some championship club before the season is out.
Slightly, vaguely related, but doesn’t Cardiff’s signing of Craig Bellamy show what a great seller of a club to players Dave Jones is? He knows how to get them to sign on the dotted line, doesn’t he?
Made the long trek up to Molineux on Saturday and was really pleased with much of what I saw. However (and speaking as a previous advocate of the player) I watched Keogh’s error-strewn apperance with a sense of real dissapointment. I felt quite sorry for him as he just looked so lost and devoid of confidence. I’m sure he is a better player than recent performances have suggested and I really feel that for his own benefit he needs to move on and look to regain his mojo at another club.
You can’t keep on keeping players on past glories. Yes, he was instrumental in our promotion push, but, you have to move on, and, if the player can’t make the step up to PL level, he has to go.We can afford no passengers in the team, there are too many quality sides to punish us for playing players who are not good enough.
I know it’s harsh , but if Murray and Kightly show no signs of recovery by early next year, then they should go too
We have to move the club forward… and as for a replacement forward, how about looking at our youth team and bringing them forward..Winnall etc? We hear so often about promising youngsters in the academy , but never seem to get a chance at senior level
Agree 100% Dazza, if they aint no good, get rid.
By the way the papers mis spelled the name linked with us, it’s Forlan, the Dago from Uruguay, not Folan!!!!!
Now what comments would that bring if we were in line for him, eh???
FOWB
Your report is dead right Ben. I was a fan of Keogh’s, and hated how he was always a scapegoat for poor performances. But i always hate to hate our players, criticise sure, but not hate.
But the time has definately come for him to go. Slightly baffling though was the decision to send away Vokes again. There has to be another striker coming in. As Fletcher limped off on Saturday i held my head in my hands and just hoped we’d hang on. The awsome twosome will get injuries, and we need good cover. Shame Craig Bellamy wasn’t from Wolverhampton…
Rich , apparently Scott Carson has his head in his hands too… he dropped it three times, and then in utter shame, decided to throw himself under a Taxi in Kings Road… the Taxi rolled under him….
I always stood up for the guy and loved his passion but he had an awesome opportunity against stoke to prove himself and he looked awful. In a time when the squad is obviously improving and this season is so important to the future of wolves you need to make a mark and he just didnt even try to do that.
How many chances do people get? if we look at seb, doyle and fletcher he is just not as good. folan is equally a bad choice imo. we had a great transfer window without buying much ‘pap’ lets keep that transfer policy in place
You’re being a bit kind to SEB there
what he’s not better then keogh!? he definitely is
It was more putting him in the same class as Doyle and Fletcher. It would help if we could have a third player who could score too
Actually if you think about it, Keogh has the same amount of goals from open play as SEB in less games. And SEB offers little if not scoring.
Morning all. Thanks for comments thus far. He does divide opinion doesn’t he?! I always thought it a bit of an irony that the fans often gets blamed for his shocking form when so many of them are staunch defenders of him. After our glorious opening day win, one lad informed me that Keogh would infact be something akin to Messi if he hadn’t got so many boo boys on his back, and that he would never have been treated so contemptiously if he played for Celtic. (The same Celtic that giave Viduka dogs abuse during his time at Parkhead, but oh well!)
I just find it terribly sad and feel for the player now.
As for Folan, here is the thoughts of a Hull City friend, who has seen a fair bit of him.
“A lot of City fans slag Folan off but I quite rate him. The problem is because he’s a tall guy they see him as a target man. He isn’t. He actually doesn’t get his head on much at all but he’s strong and quick and has a decent touch as demonstrated by his goal last season that should have got us three points at Portsmouth before Bullard and then Garcia messed up.
There may be a bit of a question mark about bravery – he was doing really well in his first game for us at Blackpool a few seasons ago, looked well worth the £1-million and more, but then suffered a horror head injury, play was stopped for more than 10 minutes and he missed a few games.
One theory is that he lost his bottle a bit after that, which would explain any reluctance to stick his head where it hurts. But if you look beyond the idea that a big guy has to dominate in the air you get someone who still has a lot to offer. He scored a good few goals in our promotion season by bursting clear of a high-line defence and finishing neatly, but critics always forget contributions like that when the team is on the slide.
He’s hardly been a regular in the Prem partly because of injury, partly because he does have a bit of an attitude and partly because he has occasionally been used (wrongly) as a target man so hasn’t really delivered. I believe he’s been injured so far this season. I’d like to see him given a chance here. A lot of people take the view he’s already had enough of those, which shows how little they know!
BTW – Jeff Winter is me! I was tying to be funny in an earlier blog!
If the offloading of Keogh is holding up another potential striker signing then I’ll drive the taxi.
However, Keogh is fantastic backup for the strikers we have, Ebanks still has a long way to go to prove he’s Prem quality and that leaves us extremely light upfront.
Some seem to take for granted that Doyle went practically the entire season without picking up a knock… if we need to bring players on to protect our two Golden Egg laying Geese… then we need the likes of Keogh.
We are Wolves !
Other names who I’d not mind seeing:
Ross McCormack (Mick likes him, and he could be going to Hull funnily enough)
James Vaughan (linked with him on transfer deadline day last season)
Rickie Lambert – Would never happen as Saints would never sell, but I really rate him having seen him in the JPT last season.
Jason Scotland – not getting a look-in at Wigan, being linked away from there.
Remember when the Blues bought Dugarry a few years ago? He seemed to have a that Gallic flair and unpredictable brilliance that seemed to galvanise the club.
I know such a player is nigh on impossible to get, not least when they’d have to warm the bench, but a break from the conventional would be great wouldn’t it?
Another thought: having seen Hemmings and Winnall in pre-season, I wouldn’t be unhappy if one of those lads got nearer the squad this season.
Ben, are you serious?
Jason Scotland, Ross McCormack & Rickie Lambert !! we are a Premier League club now and we have to act like one, these players are Championship players at best (I’ll give you Vaughan) and no better than Keogh IMO.
I agree we need a back up striker if we sell Keogh and I also don’t think Keogh is good enough for The Prem, but there must be better options out there than 3 of the 4 you’ve mentioned.
Bringing the kids through is one option but I don’t think we’re at that stage yet as a club.
I don’t think Folan is a very “Mick type” of player and would be very surprised if we bought him.
I think we might see a loan striker come in before the end of the transfer window, but I hope it’s not Folan.
Agree in part Yorkshire, but its tough reconciling this with someone who would effectively be 4th choice. Not easy to find the requisite quality.
One thing’s for sure is that we need someone as 3 strikers ain’t enough. You probably know my thoughts on BCI, but he’d have been good enough for me and I’d have kept him.
Agreed (mostly) we do need a back up striker and it’ll be tough when they see who is in front of them in the pecking order, but it’s a squad game and you never know when your chance will come along.
There aren’t many players these days who can command a guaranteed starting place at any club, I’m sure there are plenty of players out there who would rather come to us and be part of the 25 than stay at a club where they’re not in it.
Can’t agree about Big Chris though, I think his time had come at The Mol and good as he was in The Championship, I don’t think he’s Premiership quality and we got a good deal out of his transfer both financially and from a Fletcher make weight point of view.
I have always liked Keogh and I think there is a place for him in a team with 2 fit wingers (proper wingers), just for the fact he will drop back, hold the ball and lay it off wide. This part of his play created so many chances in the Championship, but he never had a proper look in last season.
I have to agree that he did look poor against Stoke. Whether he is low on confidence or he is putting too much pressure on himself, I don’t know. He is still young and with Doyle, Fletch and now SEB showing some form, I think it is time to move on. Back to Championship, as he will do a job there and get some confidence back. It must have been hard for him the last few years with the fans, when it sometimes appeared that every touch is analysed and might get booed………
Anyway. 4th striker? Vokes is far, far from ready, although I like the kid. But if you are 4th striker you might get the last 10 minutes and 1 chance. You have to bury that chance. Vokes just isn’t quite there yet.
I think Jason Scotland is a good call, although Wigan paid a bit of cash for him!
Like you Rob, I also appreciated what Keogh brought to the side, particularly in the Championship, where you shrewdly point out, we played with two wingers.
But now, with players like Fletcher and Doyle who can do everything Keogh can and much, much more aside, I don’t see the point in keeping him.
If Mick’s plan all along was to only bring in Fletcher and keep one of the other strikers on the periphery, I would have preferred it to have been Iwelumo. At least he offered us something different and you can chuck him on with ten minutes to go to either cause havoc in the opposition’s box or help out defending crosses.
I’d like to see an impact player replace Keogh in the 25 man squad. Either someone with a bit of muscle or some downright pace to exploit tired legs.
Vaughn from Everton is a good shout. He’s from around here I believe so might be up for spending the season in the area and getting game time where he can.
Scotland is too similar to SEB in my opinion.
Mick still likes Keough. Maybe he is sick or something.
We were crap in the Championship when Keogh played. Does nobody remember how big a difference Iwelumo made? Despite the odd goal like against Derby it’s hard to forget Mick’s 2nd season when he played every week and was woeful as were the team.
Have to agree with this. He scored 11 in 40 odd games that season and his limitations led to the iwelumo purchase, whose goals played a far bigger part than anything keoghs did. His run upfront did coincide with our wobble too. Yet Chris isn’t up to it whereas keogh is?. I would be intrigued to get Karl Henry’s thoughts!
According to reports Keogh has been promised a spot in the 25, meanwhile sick note Kightly’s training has been “reined in” … are we ever going to see this guy again? Such a damn saga
So ‘Arry don’t want Keane at Spurms?
What say we put in a silly offer, see what happens?
FOWB
I’M JEFF WINTER!!
I can’t say I have ever been Andy Keogh’s biggest fan, but I have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt following some occassional moments of good football.
However, after attending the Stoke match on Saturday I feel now he really is out of his depth. Fletcher looked fantastic, with SEB still being picked (regardless of whether he can score or not) and golden boy Doyle proving himself last season; Keogh now looks really poor in comparison and I can’t see how he fits in to a premier league squad.
It is time for him to go, but if he does go we HAVE to buy another striker as back up. What I can’t understand is Mick’s transfer policy. The fact that he got rid of Chris Iwelumo ok, I can maybe understand that, but then to loan out Vokes (who is imo better than Keogh) and Maierhofer who still hasn’t been given a proper chance in the team, but do nothing about Keogh is totally beyond me. Keogh should have been the one sent out on loan or sold.
We need to off-load him whatever the cost, but then Mick needs to be sensible with who he brings in. He hasn’t been the most popular wolves player but i really would have liked Maierhofer to have been given a big chance in the squad. He scored 1 goal in 8 last year, but SEB only scored 2 in 26. Yet SEB got chance after chance and Maierhofer got nothing. He must be thinking he should have stayed with Rapid Vienna, lets face it if he had he would have been playing in European Cup football this season instead of languishing on a season long loan in the German 2nd Division.