Monday Football

02 February 2009

by Jerrad Peters

 

Keane makes shock return to Spurs

 

Everything about Robbie Keane's abrupt return to White Hart Lane is astonishing. For Tottenham Hotspur, it marks the third time in a fortnight that a former player has returned to north London. It's a bizarre practice, and the ways Spurs go about their business should certainly come under scrutiny. For Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez, meanwhile, Keane's exit signals a decisive victory in his power struggle with chief executive Rick Parry.

As he confirmed this weekend, Benitez never authorized the move for Keane in the first place. "The club spent it," he stated, when questioned about why he had paid £20.3 million for the Irishman, only to sell him back to Spurs for £15 million six months later.

We now know that Liverpool's acquisition of Keane was carried out by Parry, without the consent of the manager. Benitez was never keen on the 28-year-old and would have preferred to spend the money on Gareth Barry. He was stonewalled in his pursuit of the Aston Villa midfielder, however, as Liverpool's limited transfer resources were diverted to the Keane transaction.

In Keane's exit, Benitez has scored a major coup. Not only has he put one over Parry, he has demonstrated his decision-making strength at a time when his contract is in the process of re-negotiation.

None of this has been lost on Tom Hicks. The Liverpool owner is fully backing the manager and is thought to have requested Parry's resignation. Both Hicks and co-owner George Gillett were on hand as Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 at Anfield on Sunday.

The two did not sit together, however, as they have in the past. Instead, Hicks entertained members of Kuwait's Al-Karafi family, enforcing the idea that he is attempting to bring a wealthy partner into the Liverpool setup. Having already tried to force Gillett into selling his stake in the club to Dubai's Al-Maktoum family last winter, he appears to be intent on swapping his current partner for a more moneyed investor from the Middle East.

Keane, for his part, could make his Tottenham return as soon as Sunday against Arsenal. The past half-year has been a nightmare for him, as Benitez effectively froze him out of the squad for the better part of two months. The manager's reasoning remains in question, although it is likely that his benching of the player was simply down to club politics. Keane wasn't a Benitez player, and as a result he remained on the bench.

The striker will be quickly ushered into the lineup upon his return. Jermain Defoe—also brought back into the fold after a year at Portsmouth—will miss four weeks with a broken metatarsal and Roman Pavlyuchenko is running on fumes after already playing a full season in Russia. That leaves Keane and Darren Bent as manager Harry Redknapp's fully fit strikers, and Redknapp's disdain for Bent has never been in doubt.

 

jerradpeters@gmail.com