Source: Telegraph
Showing Robbie Keane the exit could prove costly
Keane could kill Anfield's dream of a first title in 19 years, gifting the championship to Manchester United, letting their hated rivals equal their record of 18 titles. Selling Keane back to Spurs would then be officially chronicled as one of the most expensive mistakes in footballing history. So why offload him? Rafael Benitez has some explaining to do.[LNB]The last-day doomsday scenario may be far-fetched, as United will surely have de-iced the open-top bus by then, but the 'Curious Case of Keane's Six Months on Merseyside' would take the combined forensic skills and analytical minds of Morse, Poirot and Holmes to unravel. [LNB]Liverpool surely do not need the money that urgently; for all the chaos surrounding their irritating American co-owners, a cheque for £15 million-plus (in reality a restructuring of Liverpool's original £20 million payment) cannot form a motive to sell. A title is worth that in prize-money and commercial trappings. So why gamble? Ambitious clubs do not dispense with good strikers mid-season. Very odd. But peer into Benitez's mind.[LNB]The decision to send Keane back south was driven through by Benitez, and it is hard to find logic in the Liverpool manager's actions. If Fernando Torres stretches for a ball in training at Melwood on Tuesday morning, and pulls one of those sensitive hamstrings, the songs of praise for the popular Keane will turn into a requiem on Liverpool's season. [LNB]After Torres struck twice against Chelsea on Sunday to revive Liverpool's Premier League aspirations, Keane was one of the first in the dressing room congratulating the victors. The Irishman was well liked by Torres, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, and their opinion set the tone. Keane will be missed by the players.[LNB]But not by Benitez. Keane arrived at Anfield eager to fulfil a childhood dream of pulling on the red of Liverpool and he was warmly received by the players. But Benitez does not do warm. If the Irishman had been signed by Benitez's predecessor, Gerard Houllier, he would have been given more time to prove himself but the Spaniard is a hard task-master. [LNB]Benitez enjoys a reputation of quickly dismissing those who fail to deliver yet it is here that confusion enters the debate. As he drove down the M6 yesterday, Keane could have been forgiven for wondering how Ryan Babel has been given time by Benitez while he has been sent south. Some sympathy must exist for the underperforming Keane, rarely given a run in his best position – through the middle. [LNB]Keane's treatment simply exposes the reality that Benitez is a cold manager, clearly an individual raised at icy Real Madrid rather than in Liverpool's more compassionate, family-driven atmosphere. Gerrard's famous lament about Benitez, that his career ambition remained a desire for a "well done off Rafa'', has never rung truer. Benitez's approach to man-management has always been a hand at the throat not an arm around the shoulder. Cold, cold, cold. Benitez is a one-man cold snap. [LNB]Now, as he previews Wednesday's FA Cup collision with Everton, Liverpool's manager will seek to justify his reasons for banishing Keane. Benitez will hint at dark, political club reasons, but Keane's exit is purely the Spaniard's doing. In dismissing Keane, he may live to rue not bringing in Emile Heskey.[LNB]Anyone looking at the winners and losers in the transfer window will surely conclude that Aston Villa have done the best deal. Only £3.5 million for Heskey! Martin O'Neill, an inspired man-manager, has struck again. Heskey will slot effortlessly into the dressing room. On the pitch, he will take some of the work-load off Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young. Those Liverpool players who craved the selfless Heskey returning to Anfield now sound frustrated people.[LNB]Other clubs have excelled during the window. Jimmy Bullard may discover that London is bigger than Hull but this looks a neat piece of business. The fee, £5 million, appears steep for a 30-year-old and the 4½-year contract particularly generous but Hull crave more energy through the middle, and a bit more ebullience in the dressing room. Bullard provides that. [LNB]At Everton, David Moyes does not care for players who let the team down on the field or the club down off it so Jo's loan stay at Everton will be intriguing. The Brazilian has been an embarrassment at Manchester City, whose manager Mark Hughes must be heaving a sigh of relief. [LNB]A general rule of the January transfer window is that it is a time when the unhappy, the unsettled and the unloved move. Craig Bellamy will bring some energy to City's front-line, a contrast to the lazy Jo.[LNB]Ditto El Hadji Diouf at Blackburn Rovers. Like Bellamy, Diouf is a pest on and off the pitch but the Senegalese striker will give Rovers a greater cutting edge. Of the other striking successes, Jay Simpson's loan move from Arsenal gives West Brom hope of staying up while the £3.5million James Beattie will bring goals to Stoke City. [LNB]
