Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Pardew: More beans for Keane
Alan Pardew has appealed to West Ham's beancounters to allow him to sign Roy Keane at what is, by any standards, a hugely inflated weekly wage.
"I'm sure there would be a queue of clubs interested in taking Roy, but if there was any chance he would come here, I hope we would try everything to get him to West Ham," Pardew told the Evening Standard. "We do have a wage structure, but for a player of Roy's calibre I would ask the chairman and the board to do everything they could."
Given that his wages at Old Trafford were in the reported region of £90,000 a week, one would expect Keane to sign on a one-year contract at perhaps £60,000 a week.
Given that most of West Ham's squad are probably being paid between about £10,000 and £20,000 a week, this is a huge gamble, and for what benefit?
West Ham are halfway to safety now, although we should still be wary of relegation, and realistically we're not going to end up in the top 6. At best Roy Keane would make the difference between being, say, 15th and being 13th. Yay. At worst he would drain our coffers, sit injured on the bench, and upset the team spirit that Pardew has worked so hard to build. I think the risk is too great.
Dave said...Disagree - he'd be an awesome signing. He'd raise the profile of the club and come January there would be lots of potential signings that would be a lot more Keen (no pun intended) to sign. Also his work rate and quality could give us a shot at Europe.
In all honesty - Pardew ain't gonna get him anyway so let's stop all this nonsense and get back to work :-)
beggers said...I agree with WHUBRIS, he's a whinger who blows up when things don't go his way. Can't imagine he'd cope with the roller caster ride that is WEST HAM. And Dave is right anyway, he won't be playing for us if you beleive what you read as it seems every second club wants him.
whubris said..."Can't imagine he'd cope with the roller caster ride that is WEST HAM" - I think you're on the money here, Beggers. I know he is a brilliant player but... I just think there's too much risk at those wages. If we could get him for 20K I'd probably change my mind.
Moot point anyway as both of you say...
whubris said...FOLLOWUP: Peter Grant has said how keen he is on Roy...
http://www.teamtalk.com/teamtalk/News/Story_Page/0,7760,1778_863546,00.html
whubris said...Bah, I'll just post it.
Hammers make Keane move
West Ham have contacted Roy Keane's advisors and are ready to discuss terms with the veteran midfielder should he decide on a move to London.
Since Keane left Manchester United a fortnight ago a number of clubs have expressed an interest in signing the 34-year-old - but none have gone as far as the Hammers in laying their cards on the table.
Teddy Sheringham has already urged his former United team-mate to join him in east London - and manager Alan Pardew has secured the support of the board.
The Hammers are now waiting with fingers crossed that Keane decides against joining his boyhood club Celtic or moving overseas and instead heads for the bright lights of the capital.
"We have made the contact that we are interested. We would be delighted if someone like Roy Keane was available and interested in coming to West Ham," said assistant boss Peter Grant.
"We definitely hope it could happen. We would love the opportunity to speak to him and if he gave us the nod he was interested we would be in there for sure.
"The decision comes down to Roy and where he wants to play his football. Does he want to move to London? Does he want to move abroad? Does he want to move to Scotland?
"If he says he wants to go to Glasgow then it is a waste of time pursuing it because there is only one team he is going to play for.
"But if Roy decides he wants to come to London - then bang, we're in for him. There is no doubt about that."
West Ham have decided against actively pursuing Keane and are happy to express their interest, try to prove Upton Park is the player's best option and then wait for the phone to ring.
Grant believes Keane would be a major asset as West Ham look to cement themselves as a top-half side.
West Ham sit ninth in the table, higher than many expected them to be after they secured promotion through the play-offs, but they are an inexperienced squad. The likes of Yossi Benayoun, Anton Ferdinand, Danny Gabbidon and Nigel Reo-Coker have impressed despite being in their debut Premiership seasons.
"The one thing Roy has got is a winning mentality - and that is what we are striving for here," said Grant. "Alan spoke last week how highly we rate him and it would be fantastic to have him at this club. Someone like that would give the club a huge lift.
"People say things about his team spirit - but that comes down to the fact he wants to win games of football. I don't find that a fault in anybody.
"That mentality comes from Sir Alex Ferguson - second place is first loser - and that is why he has been so successful in his career. Roy has never accepted second best and we are trying to instil that in our players.
"We are looking to bring in quality players that are going to control a game when it is going away from you, like it did in the defeat to Manchester United on Sunday. We didn't have that somebody to put their foot on the ball and dictate the pace of the game.
"All we are trying to do between now and Christmas is to make sure we are as high up the table as we can possibly be so we can attract that type of player."
