Kolkata: Not until Friday night did Robbie Keane realise that the numbered days of his playing career will itself be the stepping stone to his managerial debut and will pit him against his once coach Avram Grant in a football frenzy city as Kolkata.
His first match as a manger deems victory with importance equal to the one teams search for in a tournament final. Only a win can save ATK avoid a last rung finish — They stand on ninth with 13 points after 17 games —- But that will have to happen if they are able to beat Keane’s long time foe Grant.
But just as the new added responsibility on his shoulders did not surprise Keane — “I was the national captain for many years. So I have almost always had that responsibility” — his appointment as a player-cum-manager for ATK was not astonishing for Grant either.
“Nothing surprises me in football anymore,” said the youngst manager to lead the Israel national team. ‘Robbie is a fantastic player,” he added having witnessed the Irish legend during his time in the Premier League.
The NorthEast United manager recalled how Keane playing for Tottenham Hotspur scored against his Chelsea side in the League Cup Final in 2008 and how the now ATK manager injured himself in Grant’s first game at West Ham.
But apart form Keane and Grant standing on the opposite sides of the pitch, what makes the match more interesting is their respective team’s battle to avoid a last place finish.
Not just the burden of leading, Keane has also been tasked with the burden of scoring as the franchise’s first-choice striker. Although injuries have hampered his time in India, he has still managed to score one third of ATK’s 15 goals.
“I am not trying to dress this up or offer any excuses but there have been so many injuries and so many changes. I have had three different injuries which is really a first time in 20 years of football but it has been an experience I have learnt a lot from,” said Keane 37, here on Saturday.
But in a season that have gone from a calm sea-wind to a ravaged storm for ATK — they started as champions but now are just one loss away from finishing last — Keane will hope to bring some stability in his one-off game as a player-cum-manager.
“Two days time is a too little for me to implement something new. But we have practised hard. Such ups and downs are part of football and I am not willing to mourn. I am focussing on tomorrow’s game and then we can hopefully we can go to win the Super Cup,” concluded Keane.