Martin O’Neill has distanced himself from taking over as West Ham manager while Robbie Keane has turned down the chance to move to Birmingham City.
Speculation was rife that O’Neill was going to replace Avram Grant after West Ham’s defeat from Arsenal but it seems that the speculation killed off any deal.
The former Celtic boss guards his privacy and reputation with a passion and wouldn’t have been happy with the way that the West Ham story leaked out.
As Leeds United and Spurs found out during his time at Celtic O’Neill is very much his own man and won’t be bundled into any move that doesn’t suit him 100%.
Working alongside David Sullivan, David Gold and Karen Brady- who all like to be centre-stage- would have tested O’Neill’s resolve to the limit with their handling of Grant bringing wide spread criticism.
Since taking over at West Ham a year ago Sullivan and Gold have had to pay out on contracts to Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke with the cost of sacking Grant estimated at £5m.
The West Ham owners have sunk £50m of their own money into the club but face complete meltdown if they are relegated.
Fanciful plans to move to the Olympic Stadium would be dead in the water if the club is relegated with O’Neill seen as the ideal man to save West Ham from the drop.
Saving the club from relegation would have appealed to O’Neill but with less than a fortnight to go in the transfer window and their handling of the Grant situation it seems that he has distanced himself from the move leaving Grant in charge of the troubled club.
Keane had been rumoured to be a transfer target if O’Neill had been appointed as West Ham manager with the Irish striker well out of the picture at Spurs.
A fee between Spurs and Birmingham had been agreed for the striker on Friday but yesterday Birmingham went for the face saving job of ‘pulling out’ of the deal which generally means they have been turned down by the player.
Birmingham chairman Peter Pannu claimed: “Everyone knows he is a tremendous player but having considered the overall package (one which certainly wasn’t unfair on the part of his representatives to ask for given his talent and experience).
“Keane’s age and the length of contract we felt that financially he wasn’t the best option available.
“This is unfortunate because Keane is a class act but supporters can rest assured we are considering other options and will pursue them where financially viable.”
Birmingham will now step up their bid to tempt the reluctant Kenny Miller to St Andrews.
Keane’s financial demands are reported to have changed but that usually means that the player doesn’t fancy the move.
Newcastle, Wolves and Aston Villa have all been linked with Keane but those clubs have a similar profile and resources to Birmingham.
After sitting on the sidelines at Spurs since the start of the season it’s unlikely that Keane will be pushed into a permanent transfer at this stage in his career.
Celtic have been linked with a number of strikers recently including 37-year-old Kevin Phillips.
While the transfer window remains open and Keane is still a Spurs player only a fool would say that a Robbie Return can be dismissed.
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