I believe that ‘Benitez’ was indeed Liverpool manager when they signed Keane, to suggest that chief executive would sign a £19 million player without input from the manager would in fairness be a tad naive

With regards to not playing – 28 appearances (starting 23 of them) up to January doesn’t indicate that his failure was due to limited opportunity

He wasn’t good enough for Liverpool and now he’s not good enough for Tottenham but football is about opinion and I respect yours if you feel he is good enough for the Villa

Sorry to put a dampener on the ‘Robbie Keane for Villa’ campaign but its very important you seriously consider the following…

18 months ago Liverpool cut their losses on Keane after only 6 months into a 4 year contract, the direct financial loss being in the region of £7 million (not including wages and merchandise) – it’s fair to assume that Liverpool were very unhappy with the return on their investment, especially given the circumstances whereby they were chasing major honours

Tottenham re-signed Keane for £12 million on a 4 year contract and after just 12 months were prepared to release him to Celtic on loan – again it’s fair to assume that Tottenham were unhappy with the return on their investment, especially given the circumstances whereby they were chasing champions league football

Liverpool and Tottenham are arguably Villa’s closest rivals so clearly there should be consideration as to “why Keane is not good enough for them but good enough for us”… there should also be consideration as to what Liverpool saw wrong with the player and why Tottenham accepted him back on identical contractual terms therefore presenting financial loss to both parties – unless they both suddenly think he’s crap?

Robbie Keane for sure has a good reputation but I suggest you all wake up as nobody will be prepared to take a risk on the player going forward and certainly not the Villa

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/redknapp-keane-may-have-to-leave-us-126197.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1297508/Aston-Villa-Celtic-alert-Harry-Redknapp-hints-Robbie-Keane-need-leave-Tottenham-Hotspur.html

I know other sites are saying he wants to keep him, but I’m not bothered. Keane said he would like to come to Villa and I’m pretty sure Redknapp would take the money.