Robbie Keane Contender for Preston North End Manager Role

Robbie Keane is back on the managerial radar in England, with the former Celtic striker emerging as a contender for the vacant Preston North End job.

Just a few months ago, Keane was deep in talks over a return to Parkhead. He was strongly linked with the Celtic post earlier in the summer, only for the club to hand Martin O’Neill the role on a permanent basis after his interim spell. Keane had been discussed as a possible successor to O’Neill in Glasgow, but those negotiations stalled and the move never came to life.

Now his route back into the dugout may run through Deepdale.

Journalist Alan Nixon reports that the 46-year-old is in the frame at Preston following Paul Heckingbottom’s departure.

For Keane, it would be a first crack at management in the English Championship, a stage many expected him to reach sooner.

There are familiar faces in the background. Keane already shares a connection with North End chairman Peter Ridsdale from their time together at Leeds United during the striker’s playing days. That relationship could matter in a search where trust and history often tip the balance.

O’Neill, too, knows Ridsdale well. Earlier this year he visited Deepdale with Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham, underlining how long that line of communication has been open. Their ties stretch back more than 20 years, to 2003, when Ridsdale offered O’Neill the Leeds job. At the time, O’Neill was unsure whether he would receive a new contract at Celtic and even signed a “statement of intent” over a potential move to Elland Road.

The story took a different turn then. It might do so again now.

Keane has been out of work since leaving Ferencvaros at the end of last season. His time in Budapest ended in frustration as the club missed out on the Hungarian title to ETO FC Gyori, a result that snapped Ferencvaros’ seven-year run as champions. The club turned to Balazs Borbely, the coach who had just led Gyori to the crown and has since taken charge of Ferencvaros.

Keane’s name being thrown back into the Celtic conversation earlier this year surprised nobody. His previous spell as a player at Parkhead and his relationship with principal shareholder Dermot Desmond made him a natural candidate when the managerial seat looked set to change hands. Once O’Neill was confirmed, Keane stepped out of the spotlight and has not publicly addressed how close he came to taking the job.

Preston could change that silence. For a coach with European experience, a rich playing career and deep links across British football, Deepdale offers something he has not yet had: a platform in the Championship and a chance to shape a squad in one of the most unforgiving divisions in the game.

If North End turn to Keane, it would not just be another former player moving into a high-pressure role. It would be a club betting on his pedigree, his connections and his appetite to prove himself in England’s second tier.

The next decision at Deepdale will tell whether that gamble appeals to Preston as much as it surely does to Keane.