Jol unsure about Keane's future
Tottenham boss Martin Jol has admitted he does not know whether Robbie Keane will be at White Hart Lane next season.
The 24-year-old Republic of Ireland striker was fined by the club this week for his furious reaction to being left on the substitutes’ bench in last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Birmingham, and while Jol insists he wants to keep him at the the club, he is by no means certain that will be the case.
“I do not know,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek show. “He knows and I tell him, there are not a lot of gifted players I have seen like him in my life. He is a big part of our set-up.
“He was player of the year last year, but I have to make a choice between him and Jermaine Defoe. Jermain has scored a lot of goals as well – as a matter of fact, Jermain is scoring always the first goal and the winning goal.
“Robbie is doing that occasionally, so I have to make a choice. But if he had not been here, we would have had a problem, we would probably have ended up with five or six points less. Jermain Defoe will do the same – if he had not been here this season, we would not have achieved anything.
“They are all important for our squad and hopefully he will stay because I want him to stay, but you never know because if he is fed up or he is not happy. But we will see at the end of the season.”
Jol was unhappy with Keane’s outburst at St Andrew’s and has warned the player that he must remain patient and look at the bigger picture.
“There was not a difference of opinion,” he said. “If there is a difference of opinion, you can talk about it, you have a discussion, but there was no discussion here.
“I think Robbie was disappointed, was frustrated, and he should be because I think he has got a good mentality and he wants to play all the time.
“But there were different reasons for me to put Mido on. We ended up with two big fellas with set-pieces and corners.
“Robbie had played two games in four days in the national team of Ireland and he has been involved in 28 games this year, so I am very happy with him.
“But the thing is, they have to keep themselves happy as well because Jermain Defoe has been on the bench six times, Kanoute, for example, has played fewer games than Robbie Keane and I think Kanoute has had a very good season.
“We have to avoid that sort of problem because the most important thing is that we achieve something with Spurs, so one individual is not important, and he knows that because I keep on telling them.
“I think he stepped out of line – he should not show his frustration. We have talked about it and there was no problem with him because he is a fine lad and he had a fresh start this week.
“You cannot keep them all happy because if you have 22 or 23 players in a squad, there are players in the stands for example, so they cannot be happy.
“But I think you do not have to show it because the main thing for the supporters is that they are happy and that we are having the results. That is the main thing.”
That said, Jol fully expects Keane to haunt him as he attempts to fight his way back into the starting line-up.
“He told me the other day ‘When I am not playing, I am going to be visiting you in your office every day’ and I said I am looking forward to it,” he said. “But that is private, he can say whatever he likes between us, but not show the whole stadium.
“Even if he is keen to play, you cannot show your frustration. But I know he is a bit emotional sometimes and a lot of players are over in England, but I think we are doing very well because we did not have fights or arguments on the pitch, not even in the training sessions.
“Sometimes it is not bad to have a bit of tension, but we have talked about it, we dealt with it and I have done what I had to do and he knows. I try to avoid that sort of thing because I think it will damage team spirit.”
