Robbie Keane Emerges as Top Contender for Preston North End Manager
Robbie Keane is back in the managerial conversation – and this time the spotlight has swung to Deepdale.
The former Celtic striker has emerged as a leading contender for the vacant Preston North End job, just months after holding talks over a dramatic return to Parkhead. Those discussions ultimately came to nothing when Celtic moved to appoint Martin O’Neill on a permanent basis, but Keane’s name has never drifted far from the rumour mill.
Earlier in the summer, Keane was heavily linked with the Celtic post. He had been in the frame to succeed O’Neill after the Northern Irishman’s interim spell, with dialogue taking place over a possible handover. The plan never crystallised, O’Neill stayed on, and Keane slipped back into the shadows.
Now the door may be opening in England instead. Journalist Alan Nixon reports that the 46-year-old is firmly in the frame at Preston following Paul Heckingbottom’s departure. For a coach still waiting for a first crack at the Championship, it is a significant development.
There is history tying Keane to Deepdale. During his playing days at Leeds United, he worked under chairman Peter Ridsdale, who now occupies the same role at Preston. That prior connection gives Keane a natural route into the conversation and places him in familiar company at a club searching for its next direction.
Ridsdale’s web of relationships also stretches back with O’Neill. The pair know each other well; O’Neill visited Deepdale earlier this year alongside Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham. Their story goes back more than two decades, to a moment that could have changed the trajectory of both Leeds and Celtic.
In 2003, Ridsdale offered O’Neill the Leeds job. The current Celtic manager went as far as signing a “statement of intent” over a potential move to Elland Road, at a time when his future at Parkhead was uncertain and a new contract was not guaranteed. The switch never materialised, but it underlines how long these conversations between Ridsdale and O’Neill have been circling the game.
Keane’s own managerial journey has stalled since leaving Ferencvaros at the end of last season. His time in Budapest ended in disappointment as Ferencvaros missed out on the Hungarian title to ETO FC Gyori, bringing the club’s seven-year grip on the championship to a halt. The man who dethroned them, Balazs Borbely, then stepped into Keane’s old job and took charge of Ferencvaros.
That setback has left Keane on the outside looking in, waiting for the right opportunity. His links with Celtic earlier this year felt almost inevitable given his previous spell as a player at Parkhead and his strong relationship with principal shareholder Dermot Desmond. The alignment of history, influence and timing made him a natural candidate.
Since O’Neill was confirmed in the Celtic hot seat, Keane has kept his counsel. He has not publicly discussed the talks or how close he came to taking over in Glasgow. Instead, he has watched the market, his next step still unwritten.
Preston could change that. A move to Deepdale would hand Keane his first chance to manage in the English Championship, a stage many expected him to reach sooner. For a coach with Premier League pedigree as a player and growing experience on the touchline, it would be a platform loaded with risk, reward and the kind of scrutiny he has never shied away from.
