Robbie Keane Contender for Preston North End Manager Role

Robbie Keane is back in the managerial frame – and this time the spotlight has swung to Deepdale.

The former Celtic striker has emerged as a contender for the vacant Preston North End job, with journalist Alan Nixon reporting that the 46-year-old is under serious consideration following Paul Heckingbottom’s departure.

Only a few months ago, Keane’s name was being pushed hard around Parkhead. He held talks over a return to Celtic and was strongly linked with the role before Martin O’Neill was confirmed as permanent manager. The Irishman had even discussed the prospect of stepping in after O’Neill’s interim spell, but those conversations never turned into a deal and Celtic chose continuity instead.

Now the door in England may be opening.

Keane’s candidacy at Preston is not arriving out of nowhere. He already has a long-standing connection with North End chairman Peter Ridsdale from their time together at Leeds United during Keane’s playing days. Ridsdale’s network also includes O’Neill, who knows him well and visited Deepdale earlier this year alongside Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham.

That relationship goes back more than 20 years. In 2003, Ridsdale offered O’Neill the Leeds job, and the current Celtic manager even signed a “statement of intent” over a possible move to Elland Road at a point when his future at Parkhead was uncertain.

While O’Neill ultimately stayed in Glasgow, Keane has been waiting for his next step.

He has been out of work since leaving Ferencvaros at the end of last season, after missing out on the Hungarian title to ETO FC Gyori. That defeat ended Ferencvaros’ seven-year run as champions and closed Keane’s chapter in Budapest. Balazs Borbely, the coach who led Gyori to the title, replaced him and has since taken charge of Ferencvaros.

Keane’s recent links with Celtic felt almost inevitable. He enjoyed a spell there as a player and retains a strong relationship with the club’s principal shareholder, Dermot Desmond. Even so, since O’Neill was handed the job, Keane has stayed quiet in public about how far those talks went or how close he came to the Parkhead dugout.

Preston could now change that silence into a new challenge. If appointed, it would be Keane’s first crack at managing in the English Championship – a different stage, a familiar footballing landscape, and a chance to prove himself in one of the game’s most unforgiving divisions.