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Having finally joined his boyhood heroes, Robbie Keane looks set to lead them around the area he learnt the game. A Celtic XI selected by Neil Lennon are to play Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday 23 February. And although the line-up is to be confirmed closer to the day of the game, Rovers are hopeful local hero Keane – not to mention former star Paddy McCourt – will provide the League of Ireland hopefuls with a stiff pre-season test.
Not to mention enough electricity to perhaps re-ignite Celtic's season. What was so galling about Tuesday night at Kilmarnock was how the Keane bubble was seemingly burst so swiftly. Less than 24 hours.
Keane, of course, plans to stick around longer to re-ignite it himself. But not much longer. Celtic's new number-seven was quick to emphasise to the fans he is only in Glasgow for a matter of months and would settle for a mere fraction of the former holders of the legendary number, Henrik Larsson and Jimmy Johnstone.
"It was such a hectic day I didn't really realise I had the No 7 before I came up," Keane said. "It is not something I am worried about – it is a good number and I have worn it before for previous clubs. But the players that played in the past were fantastic legends here. I am only here for a short period of time and if I can do a small bit in that short period of time, a little bit of what they did, then I will be happy with that. I am only here for a few months, while the players people are talking about have been there for years. They were legends for this club and always will be. You have to admire someone of Larsson's stature, what he has done for this club and what he has gone on to do after that. But we are two completely different players."
The one thing Keane does feel he has in common with Larsson is a burning desire to win every match he plays. The 29-year-old might not have been successful so far – Tuesday's defeat coming after a mere seven hours sleep – but the Irishman refutes any suggestion he will be unable to raise his game for visits to the less salubrious outposts of Scottish football. Included in that has to be this afternoon's Scottish Cup assignment at Dunfermline.
"The desire that he had and the willingness to win games he had I would like to think I have that in me as well," Keane said. "That is why he has gone on to be one of the best players Celtic have ever had. You are a professional, so you have to raise your game, it doesn't matter who you are playing. I have obviously played cup games in England, I have played in midweek away to third division teams. I didn't just come up here to play the Rangers game. I came up here to play for Celtic against whatever team goes in front of you."
He did watch Celtic draw 1-1 with Rangers in the New Year Old Firm game, and felt "they were certainly the better side that day and deserved to win the game". Two seasons previously was the last time he took in a game at Parkhead, seeing Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink score a crucial late goal in a 2-1 Old Firm victory. "The atmosphere was electric that day. I walked away thinking hopefully some day I will be part of it."
And part of it he is. Gordon Strachan was under intense pressure at that stage, but the win – and another Old Firm win at the same ground the following week – gave Celtic a platform for a seven-match winning run which took them all the way to the title. The parallels with the club's current situation are not exactly lost on the player. "There is pressure for everyone," he said. "You are at a massive club and the expectations are massive. People expect you to win each game. We have to deliver, walk on to that pitch and make sure we fight for everything we can. If we can do that in every game, then we have got every chance."
Keane had been linked with the club before, even if things never got close "as the clubs I was at wouldn't let me go", but all that ended around 4.30pm on Monday when he finally was given the go ahead to travel north. Then came Rugby Park, Tuesday, and that cataclysmic loss to Kilmarnock. Keane claims he wasn't caught by surprise.
But he does want to spring one on Rangers.
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