Robbie Keane is the bookmakers' favourite to be Celtic's next permanent manager. His name was widely discussed for the Celtic position prior to Wilfried Nancy's appointment. Martin O'Neill, who is currently serving as Celtic's interim manager, has no doubts that Keane should be firmly on the club's radar to take charge this summer.
Keane is currently chasing a second consecutive Hungarian title with Ferencvaros. He has guided his side to the top of their domestic league and secured progression to the Europa League last 16, creating quite an impression in Hungary. This follows his achievement of guiding Maccabi Tel Aviv to the Israeli Premier League crown in 2024.
The 43-year-old has a historical connection to Celtic, having scored 16 goals in 19 games for the club during a loan spell from Tottenham in the second half of the 2009-10 season. Keane has never made any secret of the affection he still holds for Celtic. He started his coaching career with assistant roles at Middlesbrough and Leeds before moving into management.
However, Keane's potential appointment is not without controversy. He remains a contentious figure in his native Ireland following his association with Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv. Similar reservations about Keane exist among substantial sections of the Celtic fanbase.
Why not? Robbie has done really fine at Ferencvaros, so why shouldn't he be? The football club should be looking at someone of that sort of calibre. I worked with Robbie for a couple of years when I was the Republic of Ireland manager. We could have done with him when he was 26 or 27, rather than the latter part of his career. Did he strike me as a future manager? That's always hard to say. When I was a player at Nottingham Forest, for example, I am not sure I thought of management all that much. The one person who I did think had all the attributes to do it was our defender Larry Lloyd. One, he could speak back to Brian Clough. Two, he was big and three, he was a good speaker in the dressing room. He was very commanding and did well in his first job at Wigan, getting them promoted. I then played under Larry at Notts County. He'd lost a bit of confidence then and people expected him to take some time away from management and come roaring back. But he didn't, he went into the pub business and I felt he was lost to management. The point I am making is that you think someone will be a manager, and it doesn't
Other candidates remain under consideration for the position. Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou and Wales boss Craig Bellamy are both being evaluated. There are concerns amongst Celtic officials about whether Askou is prepared for such a significant step following only one campaign in Scottish football.
Bellamy will be unavailable for discussions until April at the earliest due to Wales' participation in the World Cup play-offs. Martin O'Neill has restored stability at Celtic after being called back for a second time and is still in contention to win a domestic double with the club. O'Neill admits he wouldn't necessarily have identified Keane as potential management material when he looked around his Republic of Ireland dressing room, but holds a healthy regard for him as Ireland's most-capped player and highest all-time goal scorer.
Keane retired from international football shortly after being a fringe player in O'Neill's squad at the Euro 2016 finals. Keane has ambitions to manage at a higher level. Competition for his signature is expected to be fierce, with Tottenham also closely monitoring his managerial progress.
He was approached regarding the caretaker role following Thomas Frank's dismissal but declined any short-term arrangement. The timeline for Celtic's decision on their next permanent manager remains uncertain, as does whether Robbie Keane will actually be appointed.