West Ham deal on for Keane

SOCCER:ROBBIE KEANE'S much anticipated move to West Ham took a couple of steps back yesterday before recovering at least half of the lost ground as last night wore on.

The problems arose when West Ham baulked at Tottenham’s sudden attempt to turn the move into a player-plus-cash deal but the Premier League strugglers showed their persistence to keep the talks alive later in the day, managing to narrow the gap between the two sides on the question of the fee that will be required to complete the switch.

The Upton Park outfit had thought they were close to wrapping things up when they edged towards accepting Tottenham’s demand for a €1.4 loan fee to be followed by a €7.4 million permanent move during the summer despite the fact neither they nor the player are likely to be anxious for him to stick around in the event that Avram Grant’s side is relegated.

However, Spurs returned to the table yesterday with a new proposal, insisting that they now preferred to give West Ham the Irishman plus around €2.4 million in exchange for Scott Parker, an offer that Grant’s employers rejected out of hand.

West Ham’s owners continue to see the signing of Keane as something of a gamble considering the expense involved but, with their team in desperate need of a proven goalscorer, a little more guile around the area and, apparently, a little more fire within the dressingroom, it is one they are still inclined to take.

Parker, however, has been the team’s one consistently strong performer all season and to let him go would be viewed as essentially resigning the club to relegation.

By last night, talks about a more straightforward move for the Republic of Ireland skipper were back on course with the clubs appearing to be closer than ever to agreement on the amounts and structure of the payments.

It looks increasingly likely then that Keane will move to Upton Park over the coming days although Kevin Doyle believes it will work out well for the republic of Ireland team wherever the Dubliner ends up, once he is back playing first-team football again.

The Wolves striker was in Dublin yesterday promoting the launch of a €10 million scheme by FAI sponsors 3 to allow Irish clubs at all levels of the game to earn payments from the company in return for persuading members and supporters to switch their mobile phone accounts to the company.

“What I think will happen is that he’ll go somewhere in the next couple of days and do very well there and it will be no problem,” said Doyle.

“And it will be a bonus for us (the international team) because he will be fresh and looking to do very well.

“At the end of the day, I think he’s earned the leeway internationally of not playing regularly for a few months. He’s our record goalscorer by a stupid amount of goals; he’s one of our most capped players and he’s our captain.

“He turns up all the time for internationals when other players of similar stature sometimes don’t,” he continued. “He has that many caps he could easily just retire but he doesn’t, he keeps going. If ever there was a player to earn the leeway of not playing for a few months and still get picked for an international team, it’s him.

“But anyway, I think he will be moving in the next few days and playing regularly after that. I think that’s nailed on.”

Another who could be on the move soon if his current form continues is Shane Long, the Reading striker, who has been in outstanding form as the club edge up the Championship table.

Asked if he gets a text from his friend every time he scores these days, Doyle laughed and said: “Yeah, and I text him back; “Piss off! I remember what it was like in the Championship.”

Quickly, though, he makes it clear he’s only joking.

If Doyle reckons Keane deserves a little of the loyalty he has shown to the Irish cause to be repaid while he looks to reboot his club career, the Wexfordman also feels his Wolves team-mate Stephen Ward has probably done enough to merit a call-up from Giovanni Trapattoni but the striker believes t the highly-versatile, former Bohemians player’s chance will come if he just remains patient in the face of ongoing disappointment for a little while longer.

“He’s been unlucky, observed Doyle. “He was going to be in the squad last summer but he got injured. That ruined his chance of cementing a place because once you get in you have half a chance of staying in.

“So he’s not in the squad but he is playing well. He’s back at left-back now – after central mid, left wing and up front. He’s at left-back and it’s a position for Ireland in the next year or two that will become one to fill.”