Robbie Keane will always be recalled as a Tottenham great, as the Irishman was part of a Martin Jol side that played occasionally incoherent, but always fast, free-flowing, attacking football. The highlight of Keane’s Spurs career was finding himself paired with the Bulgarian striker, Dimitar Berbatov. It was a particularly effective partnership based upon two very similar characters. Neither of the men would be described in the same physical bracket as say Erling Haaland, rather the pair had a more delicate edge to their play, one which was punctuated with thoughtful chips and volleys. Keane, now an ambassador for Betway recently said of Berba:
.”..he’s definitely the best partner I’ve ever had. As soon as the two of us went on the pitch, the first week we trained together, something just clicked. Both of us, we didn’t care if he scored, or I scored. It was just a partnership that wanted to flourish, and we knew that when he plays well, I play well, and visa versa. He certainly made me a much better player, and I think I did also.”
Naturally, Keane’s biggest success in England indeed anywhere was his League Cup win in 2008. It was an incredible moment in Spurs’ history as silverware under the reign of ENIC has been not so much deprioritized as perceived as a direct threat to a business model that has brought significant success on paper, if not grass. Robbie recalls the after-party fondly:
“…we celebrated for about 3 days after. We actually went back to the Grove Hotel, with all the families, and we had a party there. I remember I had a dance off with Ramos, the manager’s son, which I won just to let you know.”
The trophy was a remarkable accomplishment, and to highlight how at odds with the way the club is run, the coach Juande Ramos, who did not survive for long at Spurs, he had won the club’s first trophy since 1999 but then proceeded to play 21 games more games, and only won two of them.
Gus Poyet, Marcos Alvarez, and Damien Comolli, were also booted from White Hart Lane in the same clear-out. Ramos’ record looks like this: played 54, and won 17. As the new season started, Ramos lost Keane, Berbatov, Robinson, Tainio, Malbranque, and Kaboul to other sides and replaced them with Bentley, Modric, Gomes, and Pavulychenko. Ramos wasn’t happy and it is suggested he complained bitterly about not getting his preferred targets. Where have we heard that before?
