Just how good were/was/is/are (Wolves Edition)

[Deutsch Wolf]

A brilliant player in his United/Inter days.

I wasn't a fan here. Never fit at the start of any season, we got basically half a good season from him in 02/03 and he tried manfully in 03/04 although that level was beyond him by then. That was it.

An absolute cockrash of a man. Maurice Dross had him right.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Can only really remember him scoring against West Ham in a cup game, think during the Premier League campaign, and he suddenly became the fastest man in Molineux when it hit the back of the net.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

That was a league game. Hoddle's first win. January 2005.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

I remember it well.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Thought he'd generate more discussion. Maybe everyone just hates him now...

34. Andy Keogh

Andrew Declan Keogh (born 16 May 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Indian Super League club North East United FC.

Born in Dublin, Keogh played the first several years of his professional career playing for a number of clubs in England, including Wolverhampton Wanderers, for whom he made over 100 appearances. In 2014, Keogh moved to Australia to play in the A-League for Perth Glory. He left the Glory for one year to play in the Thai Premier League for Ratchaburi before returning to Perth in early 2016.

Keogh has won thirty caps for the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring two goals.

Having had an earlier bid of £500,000 turned down, Keogh signed for Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers on 23 January 2007. He signed a three and a half-year contract with the transfer set to cost Wolves an initial £600,000 potentially rising to £850,000 with add-ons.

Keogh earned plaudits for his displays for Wolves, with Queens Park Rangers manager John Gregory describing him as "one of the signings of the season." He scored five goals for the club before the end of the season which helped them to reach the play-offs, where they lost in the semi-finals to local rivals West Bromwich Albion.

At the start of the next season, he was recognised for his efforts for Wolves, and was given their number 9 shirt. He went on to score 11 goals (eight in the league) during a campaign which saw the club miss out on the play-offs on goal difference.

The 2008–09 season, Keogh's first team opportunities were limited with Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake topping the championship top scorers list in a campaign that saw Wolves promoted to the Premier League as champions. However, Keogh still played in 42 of the 46 League games during the promotion season, and scored against Derby County on Easter Monday.

Injuries at the start of Wolves' Premier League campaign gave Keogh his opportunity to return to the starting line-up. He became Wolves' first goalscorer of the season, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win at Wigan Athletic. It was Wolves' first ever Premier League away win, and first top flight away win since 1984. However, he later fell out of the team after injuries to others healed.

In December 2009, he suffered a tendon and ligament injury to his ankle that needed surgery and put him out of contention for three months. After recovering he made only a few fleeting substitute appearances in the club's push toward Premier League survival; a total of 13 league appearance and one goal for the campaign.

Having fallen behind Kevin Doyle and new signing Stephen Fletcher in the pecking order at Wolves, Keogh joined Championship side Cardiff City in what was due to be a season-long loan deal to replace Ross McCormack who was set to leave the club to join Leeds. He made his debut in a 2–0 win against Portsmouth, the first of 17 appearances for the Bluebirds, during which he scored twice (coincidentally, both were last minute goals).

However, he was not a regular starter as the club chased promotion (ultimately without success). He fell behind strikers Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra and wingers Craig Bellamy and Chris Burke in the pecking order. His loan was terminated on 31 January 2011.

He immediately moved to Championship side Bristol City on a 93-day loan deal. He only scored once for Bristol City – in a 4–0 victory over Preston North End – before he picked up a back injury that cut his stay short after nine appearances. This injury ended his season and he returned to Wolves.

He featured in Wolves' opening day victory over Stoke, in what was ultimately his final appearance for the club, before rejoining Leeds United on loan in August until the New Year with the view to a permanent move. Keogh revealed he felt he had "unfinished business" at Leeds after only playing one game in his previous spell at the club. Keogh made his league and second debut for Leeds on 16 August, when he started against Hull City in a 4–1 win. After playing games up front with Ross McCormack, Keogh was moved to left wing for the first time when Luciano Becchio returned from injury against Manchester United.

The forward scored his first goal for Leeds in a 3–3 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 23 September. He netted once more, during the 22 appearances of his loan stay. Although the player was hopeful that a permanent deal could be agreed, it failed to be so and he returned to Wolves at the conclusion of his loan on 3 January.

On the final day of the January 2012 transfer window, Keogh joined Championship club Millwall in a two-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £500,000.

 

[Tredman]

Nice guy, nice player. Probably a bit too nice.

 

[Deano]

Liked Keogh, became a bit of a victim of fans frustrations when they wanted Eastwood to play. Never a natural goalscorer, when you hear anyone from those teams speak though they all appreciate the selfless work he used to do for the team.

 

[pr0sl0]

Not to resurface the Kightly discussion, but as someone who used to buy random CDs put out by obscure indie rock labels (until everything went onto Bandcamp), this was a particularly weird and memorable track to stumble across back during his time here:

 

[lemonjelly]

Always loved Keogh. Thought he was a really intelligent player myself, and brought a lot to the team. I was especially pleased when it was he who scored against Wigan, and thought he offered us a lot in the top flight under Mick.
Another who was maligned by a certain section of the supporters for no apparent reason. A shame that it seemed to affect him.

On Ince, prior to joining us he was a superb player. I think with us he banked out on being the guvnor a bit, and possibly felt like he was slumming it. He acted the big fish in a small pond sometimes. This carried onto his contract negotiating technique, as well as what seemed to be an expectation he would progress to player/manager, and then manager.

His management career was odd. Initially it looked like he had something, and he did well in the lower leagues. He probably went for a big job too early. However, can't blame him for that. If he were willing to take a L1/L2 club, he could restart a management career imo.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Keith Andrews certainly owes Ince, Ince totally turned his career around!

I loved Keogh, i guess some of the fans giving him stick made me want to like him and appreciate him more, as said every forward he played with talks of how much work he did and how much easier he made life for them. He was an excellent footballer too, but would sometimes freeze when faced with goal.

Keogh was a really important part of our revitalisation under Mick, and at 600k-850k? Bargain.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Keogh was great. Never understood the stick he got.

 

[YoungWolf]

I did like Keogh. Annoyed me how much stick he got, and then we quite sad seeing him out of his depth eventually in the top flight. He started off OK but compared to Doyle he was nowhere near the level needed.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I did understand the stick, it's because we have a load of morons in our fanbase. Keogh was a miles better player than Eastwood, it shouldn't even have been a discussion (in fact we should just never have signed the box headed fucker).

I liked him. Never going to be able to go the full journey with us but given what we paid, an excellent signing.

 

[Dublin Drummer Wolf]

I liked him too. He was from the area of Dublin I lived in for years and I knew his brother Kenny, used to chat to him about the stick Andy used to get and how unwarranted it was.

 

[Tony Towner]

Keogh had two issues really. The first not being Freddy, Freddy, Freddy, the second doing a job for the team for which he wasn't really well suited on the wing.

He was pivotal in the win at Derby, which would be in my top 5 games ever so I'll always be fond of him.

What I will never forgive though is that facial hair

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

I met him at a Daventry Wolves night back in 2007. Very nice young man.

His record in Australia is excellent but if you've ever watched an A-League game, you'll know it's not necessarily a mark of quality.

Poetic justice for our mouthbreathing idiots that he scored the winner against us in 2012.

 

[Newbridge Wolf]

I was a big fan of Keogh, his work rate was exceptional and I always felt he was the more natural foil for Blake.

As others have said he became a victim for the boo boys, well because Mick played him instead of a lazy arsed fecker who had the worst chant imaginable.

One criticism was that he could have learnt to put his foot through the ball every now and then. How much of this was down to him letting the crowd get to him (or maybe his brother was passing on DDWs messages that all the fans think he's shite!) I dont know, but I really liked him as a player.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Keogh was fantastic in his first 6 months at the end of that season. He seemed to chase down every ball and I was really impressed with him.

I was a fan of his throughout his Wolves career but I think the boo boys started to get to him a bit towards the end. He seemed to perform better in away games.

Can never forget his brace at Derby away, especially the winner.

 

[Lycan]

I really wish Keogh had had just a little bit more composure. He actually scored some really impressive goals, was just never consistent enough.

Sent from my GM1920 using Tapatalk

 

[North Shropshire Lad]

Catching up:

Kites:- loved him and yes, thought he left the wrong way. As others have said though, understandably [but not as a fan at the time]. Great video, great tenacity and superb song choice to match.

Ince:- my God, I'd have loved to have watched in in his prime week in week out. Like my missus, he didn't age well and like my missus, I enjoyed less than 50% of the time spent together. Why we allowed him to start his season in negotiation every year I don't know.

Keogh:- probably better than I give him credit for and carved himself out a decent career. Too lightweight and not enough impact for me in front of goal. At least he saw off 'Freddy, Freddy'.