TC confirmed, rather sheepishly, in his Press Conference that no appeal to the red card went in. Wiser heads around him have prevailed. It was as soft a red card as you get for denial of a goalscoring opportunity and though Keben and Murphy were each fouling and the latter threw himself down at the crucial point, once the ref gave it any appeal was almost bound to fail. As others have said it only attracts a one match ban but I suppose 'frivolous' appeals (as this one would probably invite) might have added an extra game to his ban. You only get a reprieve in these sort of circumstances if you are a Portuguese, buck-toothed, flouncing captain of an underperforming Premier team. Others needn't apply. Oddly enough despite the absence of any evidence and I'm working on blind optimism here, the rare sightings of the lesser-spotted Keben at Boro away, for a big chunk of the Hatters at home and for the majority of his recent outing at Fratton Park, I reckon we might have a potentially important signing on our hands here. Yes, his knee issue is the big unknown so I'll happily accept contrary views that his is a typical Watford sicknote's career; bought injured, always on the mend and becoming available for the squad in a rolling two weeks with numerous setbacks preventing reappearances. Next season - I hope with Abankwah also loaned back/sold to us - will be Keben's breakthrough season. Let the mockery commence...!
Yes. If there were such a thing as quality v minutes played, Keben’s rating would be high. He’s looked decent. But obviously he’s not played enough, and I still feel signing a player injured wasn’t the wisest move.
More likely to be his break-leg season but fingers crossed. As I posted above, he looks good when he plays.