Roy Keane has reportedly held talks with the Irish FA thrice about taking over as Republic of Ireland manager. The manager role is currently vacant, as Stephen Kenny’s was sacked in November after they failed to qualify for the EURO 2024.
According to the Irish Examiner, Keane is one of the front runners to be the next manager of Ireland. He was the assistant manager to Martin O’Neill when the former Aston Villa manager was in-charge of the Irish from 2013 to 2018.
The FAI plan to announce their next manager soon as they do not wish to continue with John O’Shea, who is currently in the interim charge. Director of football Marc Canham spoke about it and said:
“The board of the FAI had its scheduled end of month meeting this morning and a range of issues were discussed. The process to appoint our senior men’s team head coach will now be finalised, led by the CEO (Jonathan Hill) and director of football (Canham), with an announcement planned in April, as planned.”
Roy Keane played 67 times for the national side and also captained them at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
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Roy Keane interested in making return to the dugout
Roy Keane has admitted that he is interested in making a return to football management. He was on The Overlap’s Stick to Football when he claimed that he was waiting for the right challenge.
The Manchester United legend added that he had offers but was not desperate to get back without thinking about all the details. He said:
“I think so. Not that you’re going to get the Real Madrid job but it’s got to be the right challenge, the right club, and the right contract. I’ve had opportunities, but sometimes you get offered a contract and you have to look at it with self-worth, is it the right deal for you? I’d like to go back in [to management], but I’m not desperate to sign any contract for anybody.”
When asked if the Republic of Ireland vacancy was on his radar, he said:
“Yes, I enjoyed international football when I was a coach there. I like the dynamics of it where you’re not in every day and it’s not about bringing players in and dealing with the board every week. That does appeal to me, I did enjoy the dynamics when I was coaching with the Irish team – that could be an option.”
Ireland finished fourth in Group B of the EURO qualifiers with just six points.