Former Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert believes Roy Keane and the Irishman’s appointment will be a “no-brainer”.
Keane has not worked in football since leaving his role as Ireland assistant in 2018. The former Manchester United captain is now a full-time pundit, but that hasn’t stopped people from linking Mr Keane to the vacant Republic of Ireland job.
Since Stephen Kenny was ousted from the role, a number of candidates linked to the Irishman’s job have been floated. These include Lee Carsley, Chris Hughton, Steve Bruce and Keane himself. There are question marks over whether Keane can handle the role full-time given his personality and touchline rust.
However, Lambert believes Keane’s profile makes him capable of excelling in the role, and believes none of the issues previously mentioned would be an issue if he were to land the role full-time.
“If that’s the case, it makes sense for me to see him return as Ireland manager. He’ll be hugely popular with Irish supporters and he has those links with Celtic,” Lambert said. he told Ladbrokes. .
Former Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill and assistant manager Roy Keane have been sent off ahead of the Republic of Ireland vs. Northern Ireland international friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile, Getty Images)“If you ask me, ‘Can he do the job?’ I think he’s fine with handstands, no problem at all. But will he go back to management? I see. No. Maybe he likes the critic side too much now.
“Now that I put it this way, would you be surprised to see him working in Ireland? No, not really. It depends on his make-up. I really understand what’s going on.”I’m not surprised at all because it’s about football.”
Mr Keane’s time as deputy boss ended in unpleasant circumstances in 2018. Keane’s personality and no-nonsense approach pushed his players in the wrong direction. Last week, former Ireland international Jonathan Walters insisted: “The truth will eventually come out.”
The current Ireland squad is very different to the one Keane left and Lambert believes a clean slate will allow Keane to get the job done without the baggage of his past.
“I think everything has changed at the top of the FAI since Roy was a player. It’s really a new system and we have a clean sheet, so I don’t think there will be any problems,” he added.
“Until you give him a chance, you won’t know how he does it. He was there as Martin.” [O’Neill]assistant. He knows the Irish fans, he understands the expectations and he knows how it works.
“It would be really interesting if he was asked if he would take it.”
