Friday June 2, 2000
Keegan made right decision over Robbie
By Martin Lipton
Watching Kevin Keegan squirm on Wednesday night, you might have been forgiven for thinking he was attempting to justify the indefensible. The verbal gymnastics Keegan performed as he sought to explain why he had selected Robbie Fowler and Kevin Phillips but left out Andy Cole, saw him shifting uneasily in his seat.
Having spent the week vehemently affirming that Cole was fit to take part in Euro 2000 and bitterly chastising anybody who suggested otherwise, Keegan then turned 180 degrees by claiming the Manchester United striker had been excluded on injury grounds.
The fact that Fowler's 45-minute appearance in the 2-0 win over Ukraine at Wembley had merely confirmed what everybody knew - that he is still way short of match sharpness and clearly overweight - served to box Keegan further into a corner of his own creation. It was all part of the coach's desire to soften the blow, although in maintaining that a fit Cole would have been part of his 22-man squad, he drifted into a miasma of self-contradiction. That is the essence of Keegan.
For all his claims that it would not be difficult to break the bad news, it was not a task he enjoyed and even discussing the decisions caused him anxiety. Yet, irrespective of the precise status of Cole's left foot, the footballing arguments made an unanswerable case.
However Keegan came to make his choice, he made the correct one. Phillips is going because he scored 30 goals in the Premiership and is 100 per cent fit; Fowler because he is the finest natural predator in the country.
What was so self-defeating about the whole exercise is that Keegan got it right but spent 30 minutes seemingly attempting to undermine his rationale, which was illustrated by his attack on the 'doom and gloom merchants'.
Pressed on the dichotomy, Keegan went on the defensive. 'Robbie is fit to train. There's the difference,' he said. 'He's not match fit but he's fit to train and has done well in training. Andy's not been able to do that properly.'
Keegan was partially right. Fowler is not fit, nothing like it, in fact. Although he did drift out to the right flank to pick out Paul Scholes for the effort that hit the post early on against Ukraine, he lacked spontaneity in his movement. That was demonstrated when David Beckham burst down the right and cut the ball back for him in front of goal, where he hesitated far too long after Scholes' clever dummy had opened up a shooting opportunity. It was no real surprise.
Fowler has spent most of the past nine months on the sidelines nursing an ankle problem which refused to go away. His lack of football this season means Fowler may not be anywhere near fully attuned until the latter stages of the tournament, if at all.
He will have to work harder than anybody over the next few weeks. He must shed the excess weight, sharpen his instincts, move more comfortably and show signs that he can dovetail more effectively with Alan Shearer, Michael Owen, Emile Heskey or Phillips. Cole, despite denials of a rift that no-one had actually suggested, might be justified were he to entertain thoughts of a double standard.
When Keegan refused to say if he would have taken the same decision had it been Shearer who was carrying the knock - 'It's unfair to talk about the difference between players and I'm not going to do that,' he said - such feelings might have intensified. But there is one unquestioned, verifiable and utterly compelling reason why Keegan was right - if it comes down to one chance, one half-opening, Fowler is the man to take it.
Even more than Shearer, Owen or Phillips, Fowler has that extra ingredient that cannot be taught. Instinctively, he can find himself in the right place at the right time, with the inner conviction which ensures the opportunities will be taken. Keegan has known it for years, since taking an England Under 21 team which included Fowler to Austria in 1994.
Despite being sent off, Fowler was singled out for praise by Keegan, who said then: 'What happened won't affect his international future because he's a terrific talent. He's been an absolute model in training. If you ask who has impressed me most on this trip, it has to be Robbie.'
Now is Fowler's chance to prove Keegan right. It is hard to believe he will start any games, especially as Shearer appeared far less comfortable in tandem with Fowler than he does with Heskey or even Owen. But as Keegan hinted last week, there will be occasions when he believes Fowler can provide the answer, especially if England are chasing a game.
When he looks along his bench, the coach has to see the man he is confident can get that vital goal. He feels Fowler is the one to deliver. That is why he will have him there.