Credit where credit is due, the folks at r/ireland, well, user 'DamienHanrahan' in particular, have dug up an absolute gem of a rumour from an Irish Times article published in the year 2000.
Robbie Keane had just secured a move from Coventry City to Inter Milan for the then-pricey sum of £16m, after establishing himself as an upcoming star both in the Premier League and with Ireland. This came as a surprise to many in Italy, as after spending the summer wondering if Chilean star Marcelo Salas would sign for the Italian giants, it was a young Robbie Keane who nobody had heard of that came in to carry the burden of an injured Ronaldo.
Paddy Agnew was reporting on the move, and Robbie's first night in Italy, when he dropped in an absolute gem of a rumour that had been doing the rounds in the Italian media, suggesting that Keano had spent his youth working as a shepherd.
The fact that Keane is relatively unknown to Italian fans and media has led to some colourful reporting over the weekend about his background. Although the course of his playing career from Tallaght United via Wolverhampton Wanderers to Coventry City was amply and faithfully covered, one leading sports daily suggested that Inter's latest purchase had started out life as a shepherd, herding sheep on the outskirts of Tallaght.
We can only presume that the correspondent in question has never been to Tallaght. On the other hand, not many Tallaght players have made it all the way to Inter Milan.
Well that is certainly something.
Immediately you'll think "Sure there are no sheep in Tallaght!", and while that is correct, ask yourself.. Is it because Robbie Keane was such an amazingly good shepherd that he shepherded them off to the Wicklow Mountains? Or is he such a bad shepherd that they all fecked off somewhere else?
We'll try and get Robbie on the phone to clear this up.
