KEANE IS PAST IT

John Rawling in The Guardian:

‘The "Fergie bust-up with Keane" headlines will have legs before the inevitable reconciliation. But the spat should give Ferguson time to consider the future and mull over what has been apparent to students of United's fortunes for at least two seasons and possibly longer, that Keane is past his sell-by date at the age of 33 and should have been eased out of United's first-choice team.

He concedes openly that he cannot get around the pitch as he once did and that he will, in all probability, take his bow after playing for the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup finals next summer. And so, it seems, he is on a farewell tour of duty.

The pride is still there and the competitive spirit may still burn but Keane must know in his heart that he is looking ever more like an old nightclub singer who remembers all the tunes and all the words, but somehow cannot quite hit the notes any more. It is Ferguson's reluctance to confront the Keane issue that has been at the root of United's relative lack of success and inability to compete in the league last season at the same level as Chelsea.

Unless he can persuade Malcolm Glazer to make funds available to buy a new dynamic presence in the United midfield, there is no reason to think United will get any closer to Chelsea this season and they could quite possibly be forced to watch from even further back as Jose Mourinho's team disappears over the horizon.’