There seems to be a certain trend developing over recent years in terms of former Celtic players becoming managers at Paradise, and if the country’s leading bookies are to be believed, it may well happen again in the not too distant future – with Roy Keane currently being installed as the bookies second-favourite to take over the reigns from Neil Lennon at Paradise.
Keane, who finished his illustrious career with the Hoops’ in 2006 following an exceptional spell at Manchester United, currently dominates the Next Celtic Manager scene, with only John Kennedy ranking above him. BetVictor offer the lowest odds at a measly 5/2 for the Cork-born mentalist to be appointed by Peter Lawwell, alongside just 5/1 being offered at both Paddy Power and Betfair, and 6/1 not far behind at SkyBet and William Hill.
Keane is no stranger to the hot seat, having been active in the managerial game before. In fact, even during his time at Celtic before his retirement, Keane was lauded as heir to the Paradise throne – once Gordon Strachan eventually parted ways with the club – by former Hoops’ talisman Charlie Nicholas. However, this never came to fruition, and Keane instead took the hot seat at then-Championship club Sunderland to appease his good friend Niall Quinn, before later moving on to a more dour tenure as Ipswich Town manager.
In fairness to Roy, despite his openly controversial characteristics, he led the ‘Mackems‘ to the title in his first season – taking then-Celtic players Ross Wallace and Stanislav Varga to the promised land with him – an amazing achievement, given that the Wearside club were firmly rooted to the bottom of the table upon his arrival in late August 2006. A season of survival in the Premier League ensued, before the wheels fell off in 2008-09, with Keane stepping down as manager as Sunderland lingered dangerously in the relegation zone.
Taking over a club in turmoil and turning them into perennial winners is something that would clearly mirror the gargantuan facelift that is needed at Celtic Park. But, if Keane cannot make the good times stick – or even happen at all – then it would be seen as yet another lousy appointment by the board, who in recent times until the last two years, have gotten off lightly in terms of dire managerial appointments such as Ronny Deila.
It remains to be seen whether or not Roy would be adept and adaptive in this day and age as a manager. Would he change his style of play that he last adorned in 2011 to fit in with the required standards of the modern football era, or would he keep to what he knows best in a rigid 4-4-2 formation, to try and instill some form of backbone into the club? As a side who are used to attacking in every single SPFL game, the 4-4-2 may be too structured and leave little room for flair; but some managers to tend to make it work – think more Sean Dyche/Claudio Ranieri in Leicester’s title-winning season than Mike Bassett, England Manager.
It would be an interesting appointment, for sure. However, when the club is in the most precarious position it has been in arguably since the mid 1990’s, the club simply cannot afford to take risks right now – and although this move may work, there is a lot of evidence that proves it may not, given Keane’s failures at Ipswich.
As a celtic fan roy keane would certainly not let players away with slack play I would not mind roy in the hot seat brilliant player and belive he do well
We need a strong character to lead us back to the top and Roy Keane with his knowledge and vast experience of the game can certainly be that man..