Just how good were/was/is/are (Wolves Edition)

[Sniffer]

As others have said he was brilliant in his first season with us and I thought that he was doing a good job in the second season too. There was a bit of a meltdown on here when he got injured playing for the Republic but thankfully due to Sunderland and W**t B**m being on the beach we managed to survive.

He did go downhill afterwards, which was a mystery considering how well he had done. Whether it was the injury, the headaches, winning a new contract or family life taking precedence over his football I'll guess we'll never know for sure.

 

[Alan]

Well certainly at Colorado it was the head stuff that messed up his time there, alhough a remember a decent diving header goal he scored for them

Mhm, it was a multitude of things, not least of which is how awful that Rapids' team was from top to bottom.

I remember that goal well. Properly sacrificed himself for it. Really laid out.

 

[White Wolf]

Excellent first season. When you consider the sort of football we were playing in that season, he had a bit of a thankless job. 9 goals may not seem sensational but to do so in the team we had and the way we played that year, he was excellent. Was definitely one of the most fouled players in the league as well, won loads of set pieces. Vital to us staying up.

Just never clicked with a striking partner though did he? Not sure why but Doyle could only really work as a striker. I agree he was poor for the first half of 2010/11, but from about January until he got injured on international duty after the win at Villa I thought he was doing pretty good for us again. His absence towards the end of the season hurt us, I think.

Truth be told I wasn't aware of the extent of his head injuries until now. I always assumed that playing as the lone, isolated striker for so long sort of burned him out. His habits never changed, he lost his goalscoring instinct and he played the same way for us regardless of league, formation, or style of play. Crap from 2011/12 onwards but then so was everyone. Just what we needed at the time and a nice guy by all accounts (remember him signing my Match Attax card once :icon_smile, my feelings on him are pretty positive.

 

[Premier Quality]

That first season he was amazing, the links with arsenal (who were a top team at the time, unlike now) seemed really sensible.

Absolutely fell of a cliff though, was godawful once we’d gone down, bearly even looked like a pro footballer.

Lovely guy though, always wished him well once he left us.

 

[YoungWolf]

https://www.joe.ie/uncategorized/juventus-will-battle-arsenal-for-kevin-doyle-25775

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

41. Seol Ki-hyeon

Seol Ki-hyeon (born 8 January 1979) is a South Korean former professional footballer who played as a winger, and who currently is the manager of Gyeongnam FC. He is also the first South Korean footballer to score in the history of the UEFA Champions League, during his time at Anderlecht.

In August 2004, Seol moved to England, joining Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Wolverhampton coach at the time, Glenn Hoddle, preferred Seol as one of his first-choice forwards, using him in various roles including striker, attacking midfielder and winger of both sides. Disappointed with the failure of Wolves to win promotion from the Championship, Seol sought a move to the Premier League following the 2006 FIFA World Cup, despite having two years of his contract left. He was reported as saying "At this stage, I'm frustrated not to be in the Premiership. I think there will be some good news after the World Cup."

Seol eventually joined newly promoted Premier League club Reading on 12 July 2006 for a fee of £1 million (rising to £1.5 million based on certain criteria).

 

[lemonjelly]

Seol to me was another who never realised their potential.
Clearly had talent. I'm unsure as to whether he didn't use it fully, managers didn't utilise him effectively, or a combination of both.
There is a cynical part of me that also feels Jez went on a mission to sign a Korean player after they had a decent world cup showing.

He was clearly ambitious, but didn't tear it up in the PL when he got there.

Late to the Doyle party, one other thing was he agreed to come, then had a better offer IIRC, but as he'd given his word, still signed for us.
For me he was better than his 9 goals in season one. His 3rd minute winner against spurs! Even though we knew that would resyult in 87 mins of defending.
I also thought his decline started when he had that knee/leg injury?
Still, loved him, and feel he can hold his head high.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I'm not really sure why DJ bought Seol, he didn't seem to have a clue what he was supposed to be, also DJ never ever played a proper 4-3-3 so you're either asking him to play up front (where he looked shit, and we had better players anyway) or as an orthodox winger in a four, which he never was. He did have a handful of very good games under Hoddle, Ipswich at home when we beat them on a Monday night probably the best of them, absolutely destroyed Unsworth for the whole game.

Frustrating though as it never happened enough, his output wasn't good enough overall and for the love of Christ will you stop checking back after you've beaten your man, you don't need to do it again. Definitely one of those who mentally checked out long before the end of 2005/6.

Did well in the end to get our money back as he hadn't done that much over two years all told. Could have done far better with that kind of money in 2004.

Rugger Rick introducing him to the crowd was just embarrassing for all concerned.

 

[Kenny]

Always seemed if Hoddle wasn't happy with a performance it was always Seol he seemed to sub. A few times after 30 odd minutes

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

So underwhelming I had completely forgotten he ever played for us.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

42. Robbie Keane

Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish retired professional footballer who played as a forward and served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. He most recently was the assistant manager of Middlesbrough.

Keane began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring twice on his first-team debut aged 17. The following season, he was the club's leading goalscorer and scored his first international goal for the Republic of Ireland. He changed club frequently between 1999 and 2002, breaking transfer fee records, but his brief spells at Inter Milan and Leeds United were unexceptional. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2002 and played there for seven and a half years over two spells, amassing 306 appearances and 122 goals across all competitions. The 2007–08 season was the most fruitful of his career as he set a career record of 23 goals in a season, including a landmark 100th competitive goal, and won his first senior honour (the League Cup).

Keane moved to Liverpool in July 2008 but he spent only six months at the club before returning to Tottenham, where he was made first team captain. In January 2010, he moved on loan to Scottish Premier League side Celtic for the rest of the season, and spent the second half of the following season loaned to West Ham United. He left Tottenham for LA Galaxy in 2011, and in January 2012 went to Aston Villa on a two-month loan during the Major League Soccer off-season. He departed LA Galaxy in 2016 having scored 104 goals across six seasons, before a short stint with Indian club ATK. Keane announced his retirement from professional football in November 2018. In total, he scored 126 Premier League goals for six different clubs, which ranks him as the 15th-most successful goalscorer in the history of the Premier League.

Keane scored 68 goals for the Republic of Ireland national team over an 18-year international career, making him the all-time record Irish scorer. His 146 caps is also an Irish record. Keane is the joint fifth-highest European international goalscorer of all time, and the only player in the history of world football to have scored at least one international goal in 19 consecutive years. Keane was the Republic of Ireland's top scorer at the 2002 FIFA World Cup with three goals as they reached the last 16, and also played at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016. Throughout his club and international career he was known for his goal celebration where he performed a cartwheel followed by a forward roll.

Robert David Keane was born in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on 8 July 1980, the son of Anne and Robert Keane. He started his football career with local club Fettercairn before joining Dublin schoolboy team Crumlin United at the age of 10, where his talent was seen and recognised at an early age. Keane received offers from both Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, but decided to go to the First Division side, judging that it would be harder to break into the first team at Liverpool. He moved to Wolverhampton four days before his 16th birthday in July 1996, joining their youth team.

Keane progressed through Wolves' youth ranks and made his professional debut aged 17 on 9 August 1997, scoring twice against Norwich City. The following season he excelled at the club, earning praise from both the press and Wolves manager Colin Lee. He went on to be the club's leading scorer, with 16 goals in the 1998–99 season. Keane's performances and goalscoring record with both Wolves and his national team attracted much interest from larger clubs and a move for the young striker seemed imminent given Wolves' finances. However, with three years left on his contract, Wolves sought a high price for their Irish star and managing director John Richards stated his reluctance to sell Keane unless their asking price was met.

Just weeks into the 1999–2000 season, he was sold to Premier League club Coventry City for £6 million, then a British record for a teenager.

 

[Paul]

Top lad apart from that God awful goal celebration (bloody hell, 20 years ago !)

 

[lemonjelly]

Remember playing liverpool in a freindly pre season. they had owen, mcmanaman, fowler and the like.
Keane was on the bench, came on 2nd half I think. He was willing to take them on just on his own. Was in the steve bull, and you could see the entire waterloo road contingent stand up when keane got the ball.
He really was phenomenally good.

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

Keane was a great player and had a fantastic career, but I expect that I'm in a very small minority that thinks he wasn't quite as good as the majority think he was.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Obviously had a brilliant career. Didn't quite develop how I thought he would though. At some point at Spurs he turned into an ultra-deluxe poacher and not much more, whereas I always felt he had a lot more creativity about him. Broke my heart when he left as inevitable as it was, he was the first player of a similar age to me who looked properly special at Wolves. Especially leaving to bloody Coventry.

Shame Bully got injured early in 98/99, that partnership looked the absolute business.

 

[Tredman]

Similar to above when he first came into the team he was Rooney-esque (if that's possible before Rooney emerged) - he could do everything a forward needs - beat players, create goals, score goals (bit like Jota now, but better perhaps). He ended up some sort of goal poacher - he could have been a lot more than that. Had a good career though so I suppose it worked well for him

 

[Premier Quality]

He was fantastic - I was gutted when he left, even if I did understand it.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Imagine sitting there before an FA Cup semi final and you pick an ancient Paul Simpson and Steve Claridge in attacking positions but don't pick Robbie Keane.

We also brought on Robbie Slater ahead of him.

Fuck you McGhee.

 

[Premier Quality]

I’ve never (from a football perspective) been more pissed off and baffled than when that team and bench was announced.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

That's a very high bar. Hoddle's midfield against United was an obviously terrible idea but the stakes weren't as high.

You can pick any number of Saunders teams and performances but I didn't expect any better off him. Although his "effort" vs Cardiff when he was too scared to make a decision at centre half and threw the game as a result was a serious low point.