DcFc Dyycheee Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Nice little article by The Sun on Richard Keogh! RICHARD KEOGH is praying that support from the scouting Don can get him made in Trap’s Irish family. Giovanni Trapattoni watched the Derby County centre-half against Brighton last Saturday on the advice of his chief scout, former Ireland Under-21 boss Don Givens. Keogh, 26, hopes that Trap’s appearance at the Amex Stadium is good news for him and counterparts Jeff Hendrick, Conor Sammon and Mark O’Brien — who all started for Derby. Keogh did not know Trap was coming, but had been tipped off that Givens has been a regular at Rams games recently. And while Givens will not make Godfather Trap an offer he cannot refuse, Keogh hopes a few good words from his old underage gaffer can help earn him a first senior call-up. Keogh told Sunsport: “It is flattering to hear he was at the game. There are a few Irish at Derby so that will only mean that we will be watched more. “Don was manager when I was in the Under-21s so I did speak to him and told him how much I was hoping for an opportunity. Spine “I know he’s been to watch me quite a bit when I was at Coventry because we had Keiren Westwood. But I’ve been watched a lot more at Derby, and now Trapattoni has come to watch as well. “Hopefully, I’ve impressed them and can get a chance. The spine of our team is Irish so when I was joining Derby, I thought it could help my Ireland career. Conor has since come in too.” Keogh is being viewed as Trap looks for more options at centre-half, given the problems Ireland have had there recently. After conceding just three goals in 14 games before Euro 2012, Trap’s defence has hit the skids with 19 shipped in the last nine outings. The regular duo of Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger are both out injured while Dunne is facing an uncertain club future at Aston Villa. Darren O’Dea is playing at a lower level in the MLS with Toronto, while John O’Shea and Ciaran Clark, who started against Greece last November, are with Premier League strugglers. Keogh, on the other hand, has steadily added to his reputation over the last number of years. He has been lauded by Derby boss Nigel Clough for his leadership of a young Rams team that has the fourth-best home record in the Championship — keeping them in with an outside chance of making the play-offs. And he believes his form this season has given him a real shot at an Ireland call-up.Keogh added: “I’ve always had the ambition to get in the squad and I think I’m now closer. “The players in the squad, they’re all fantastic players who have done really well for Ireland. “But it is nice to be on their radar. It’s a long time since I was last with Ireland, the Under-21s, but I’ve always thought I could get a chance. “When I moved to the Championship with Coventry I thought I could get in, and now I’ve been in the Championship three years and am a better player than I was then.” Keogh’s career path is similar to that of many players that Trap has promoted to his squad, such as St Ledger, Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews. As a teenager, he showed promise in Stoke City’s reserves but left without playing a game to join Bristol City. He helped City to promotion from League One in his second season but never played in the Championship for them, instead being loaned out to Huddersfield, Cheltenham and Carlisle, who he then joined permanently. After two years at Brunton Park in League One, he got a big Championship move to Coventry — winning Player of the Year in his two seasons at the Ricoh Arena. And when the Sky Blues were relegated last year, Derby quickly snapped him up for €1million. And he believes that learning the ropes in the lower leagues prepared him better for the Championship and, he hopes, beyond. Keogh said: “I decided to go to Carlisle. I learnt a lot and improved more than I would have sitting on the bench with Bristol City. “Every player will tell you that you need to play games and, at that age, dropping a level to play was the best thing I could have done. “Taking a step back made sure I did well and got the move to Coventry. “I always thought I could play at this level, and hopefully higher. In my first year with Coventry I did well. “Last year was disappointing, getting relegated, but I think I showed in those years enough to get a move to Derby and stay in the Championship. “Fortunately I got the chance and it’s gone well. But we’ve a very young squad. “At times our average age has been 22 or 23 — there aren’t many teams in the Championship that young.” - [url=http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/sport/irishfootball/4746240/Ill-Keogh-what-I-can-do.html]http://www.thesun.ie...t-I-can-do.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaddesdenRam Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Bryson should be in the Scotland Squad Ward should be in the NI squad Keogh should be in the RPI squad Sammon, Hendrick and Obrien not ready yet. Sammon needs to get his tally up to about 15 first in my opinion and the other two are still young. Hughes should be in the under 21 England team Bennett under 18 And for those who take an interest in the academy will know we have a 15/16 yr old not sure left back called Max Lowe who has trained with the first team already and had played for england under 16. Finally Coutts???? played for scotland at youth level. Not sure if he is ready yet there are some strong attacking players in scotland squad i.e Kris Commons Charlie Adam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Contain Nuts Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I've only watched the highlights of the Brighton game, but if Trapattoni was watching Keogh I'm not entirely sure he'll have come away from the match thinking he's up to the task of International football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Scarlet Pimpernel Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I've only watched the highlights of the Brighton game, but if Trapattoni was watching Keogh I'm not entirely sure he'll have come away from the match thinking he's up to the task of International football. Not at his best at Brighton by a long chalk but Keogh is a good footballing centre Half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
networker1884 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Don't read the sun, won't read the Sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheron85 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The regular duo of Richard Dunne and Sean St Ledger are both out injured while Dunne is facing an uncertain club future at Aston Villa. Hello... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North_Stand_Ram Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I read a similar article on Hendrick. Said he's the "future of the irish midfield" Said trap has been at a lot of derby games recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StockholmRam Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 They will be regulars at our games to watch Hendrick for sure. He will get called up soon enough. The fact that we have a few more eligable for ROI at Derby is incidental. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VulcanRam Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 The intro was so awful I refused to read further! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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