Good article by Matt Slater on the BBC website about the Keane transfer -has a great closing line!: "Every December parents across the land are expected to camp out, roll their sleeves up and dig deep for the year's must-have Christmas gift. And every December children across the land are expected to deal with the bad news that Cabbage Patch Kids/iPods/Xboxes were all sold out and weren't what you really wanted anyway. Well, there will be no hissy fits at Celtic Park this Christmas as Dermot "Daddy" Desmond has bagged this year's perfect present, Roy Keane - the midfield warrior king. Cue general rejoicing, envious cross-town glances and an SPL title by March. Then the hangover kicks in, you realise you really have seen all these films before and you begin to wonder "did I actually ask for a Keano?" Because as generous as Desmond has been, many fans will be left feeling a little underwhelmed by the majority shareholder's largesse. All they really, really wanted for Christmas was Stilian Petrov's signature on a new contract, a new full-back or two and maybe, as they've been very well behaved this year, a new centre-back. Keane's name was on their Christmas list too... about three years ago. So who exactly is this present for? Is this the gift-giving equivalent of buying your vertigo-suffering, beach-loving wife a skiing holiday for two? Desmond, after all, has always been very clear on his determination to move Celtic south. Keane the battering ram to open the gates to the Premiership's promised land makes more sense than Keane the midfield key to Champions League success. There is no denying that the 34-year-old Irishman is amongst the top five players to have appeared in the Premiership - possibly the best - but there is also no denying that Keane is no longer that player. It's easy to picture Keane adding a Scottish title in May to the seven English versions he won at Old Trafford, but I can also see him and incumbent midfield general Neil Lennon tackling each other as they try to pick up possession from the centre-backs. And then screaming at each other. Yes Keane ticks the Celtic supporter box (although his real first love was actually Spurs), yes he will add a touch of class to the side, and yes he is a natural-born winner. I can also buy the argument that his legendary professionalism - so militantly demonstrated with Ireland at the 2002 World Cup - might help on the training ground. Not that a Celtic squad that includes Lennon, Chris Sutton, John Hartson and other experienced names actually lacks professionalism. But can Celtic, and I suppose I really mean Desmond, afford him AND the other players they need more urgently? And can Strachan find a place for the creaking Corkman in what is rapidly becoming a very decent side? Lennon is playing the best football of his career, Petrov is Celtic's most consistent performer, Japanese play-maker Shunsuke Nakamura is getting better every week and Aiden McGeady heads a crop of talented youngsters at Parkhead that simply demand time and space to blossom. Where does a tidy but one-paced battler, who is so angrily fighting the fading of the light, fit into this team? Strachan's predecessor Martin O'Neill also added an ageing midfield star to his squad during his final year in charge. That star was Juninho and the Brazilian maestro spent much of his short stay in Glasgow's east end suffering in silence on the bench. Keane will not sit down so quietly. If Desmond is trying to guarantee Champions League football by ensuring Celtic win the title this year, Keane's arrival makes a degree of sense. But if he thinks a by-then 35-year-old Keane can deliver Champions League football after Christmas 2006, he clearly has not been watching United in Europe these past few seasons. The shame of it is that Keane and Celtic are made for each other. Passionate, honest and ever-so-slightly chippy. The fans will love him regardless, and his shirts will sell by the thousand. Even Rangers fans should welcome the addition of another hate-figure to spit venom at on Old Firm day. But the overriding feeling I get from Keane's arrival is of Desmond, and to a lesser extent Celtic fans in general, not being able to help themselves. This belated getting-together smacks of a drunken fumble at a school reunion with the one that got away."
