Follow Ireland Investment Immigration and Life in Ireland: Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane is expected to return to a coaching role. The Football Association of Ireland and renowned manager Martin O'Neill have basically reached an agreement, and O'Neill is interested in inviting Keane to serve as his assistant. The opportunity to return to his home country to serve as an assistant coach for the national team is very attractive to Keane.
Former Irish midfielder Roy Keane played for Manchester United for many years and was once a leader for the Red Devils. After retiring, Keane embarked on a coaching career, managing Sunderland and Ipswich Town, and leading Sunderland to promotion to the Premier League. However, Keane has not held a coaching position since his departure from Ipswich Town in January 2011. Currently, Keane has received an invitation from Martin O'Neill and is expected to coach the Irish national team as an assistant to the renowned manager.
Ireland's previous manager was the famous Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni, but they finished fourth in their group during the World Cup European qualifiers and failed to qualify for next year's World Cup. In September of this year, the Football Association of Ireland announced the termination of Trapattoni's contract and has been searching for a new manager. The Football Association of Ireland has set its sights on O'Neill. According to the Daily Mail, both parties reached a preliminary agreement during a meeting this Friday, and O'Neill has accepted the invitation from the Football Association of Ireland.
O'Neill has previously managed teams such as Leicester City, Celtic in the Scottish Premiership, Aston Villa, and Sunderland, and was once considered a successor to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. However, due to poor results at Sunderland, O'Neill was dismissed in March of this year and has been unemployed since. Crystal Palace, the bottom-ranked team in the Premier League this season, also wanted to invite O'Neill to coach, but O'Neill ultimately accepted the invitation from the Football Association of Ireland. His primary goal moving forward is to lead Ireland to qualify for the 2016 European Championship.
O'Neill's long-time assistant, John Robertson, is unable to join him at the Irish national team due to health reasons, so O'Neill thought of inviting former Irish national team captain Keane to serve as his assistant. For Keane, the ability to return to his home country to serve as an assistant coach for the national team is very attractive. Although Keane has also done well as a football television commentator over the past two years, he still hopes to return to the coaching bench. If he can learn more coaching experience from O'Neill this time, it will also be very helpful for Keane's future coaching career.