Keane as Celtic manager? Definitely not. Keane as Celtic no. 2? Now that could work…

This morning, I wrote about the gauntlet of fixtures Celtic are about to run once the international break is over.

In it, I touched on something Bhoycie and I had discussed on the Bhoycie Bus last night.

Roy Keane as Martin O’Neill’s number two.

Today, the Daily Record has Alan Stubbs warning Celtic off Roy Keane.

But not as a number two.

As the next Celtic manager, should Martin O’Neill decide to step down.

Stubbs, who made over 100 appearances for the club between 1996 and 2001, was speaking to Gambler Media about the names being thrown into the hat.

Here is what he said, as reported by the Daily Record:

“Eddie Howe has been mentioned for the Celtic job, Roberto [Martínez], Roy Keane as well. I don’t necessarily think Roy Keane is the right step. I just don’t see it as a good fit, if I’m being honest.”

And do you know what?

I agree with him.

Roy Keane has not managed a football club since Ipswich Town in 2011, and you don’t hand a man the Celtic job on the back of that

That’s fifteen years away from the hot seat.

He has spent the last eight of those years in a Sky Sports studio.

Now, I enjoy Roy Keane on the telly as much as the next man.

But telling us what’s wrong with a football team on a Sunday afternoon is not the same as fixing one.

The game has moved on a lot in fifteen years.

Keane has confirmed that he’d consider a return to the dugout, and good luck to him.

But the Celtic manager’s job is not the place to find out whether you’ve still got it.

He has simply been too long out of the game to take on a role like that.

So on that score, Stubbs is right.

Keane as Celtic manager?

Definitely not.

In fairness to Stubbs, he made another good point about the big names being linked with the job:

“There are a few candidates out there, but if they went for one of the big names, they’d put more demand on the Celtic board than anybody has in the last few years. They wouldn’t come unless they had assurances of a big pot of money and a big say in recruitment.”

In other words, a proper manager would want proper backing.

And we all know how that goes down in the Celtic boardroom.

But Keane as number two to Martin O’Neill is a different conversation altogether

Bhoycie did an article on this yesterday, and he laid out why it’s not such a crazy idea.

I’ll be honest, I was a bit skeptical to begin with.

Roy Keane, at Celtic, in 2026?

Then we talked it through on the Bhoycie Bus last night, and I could see the merits of it.

Keane has been an assistant coach at Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa and with the Republic of Ireland.

With Ireland he was Martin O’Neill’s assistant, and the two of them worked well together.

There is no reason that they couldn’t do that again.

As a number two, Keane wouldn’t have to pick the team or carry the can for the results.

He’d just have to do what he’s good at.

And what is Roy Keane good at?

Standards.

Can you imagine anybody in that Celtic dressing room downing tools with Roy Keane standing over them?

Me neither.

This is a squad that lost back-to-back games to the Ibrox side before the break, in the league and in the cup.

We’re out of the League Cup, and our lead at the top of the Premiership has been cut to two points after seven matches.

That dressing room is shellshocked, and it needs somebody to put some discipline back into it.

It needs better communication as well – between the coaching staff, and between the coaching staff and the players.

Keane could deliver both.

Something has to happen to galvanise this management team, and Keane may well be the right fit for that

Martin O’Neill is 74 years old, and he has already admitted that he would consider his position during the break.

That tells you he knows something needs to change.

He delivered a miracle last season, but he can’t be expected to deliver another one on his own.

He needs help.

A familiar face who he trusts, and who the players would be terrified of, sounds like help to me.

But here’s the problem.

None of this happens without Dermot Desmond.

And where is Dermot Desmond right now?

Playing golf at the Dunhill Cup.

The absent meddling golfer strikes again.

After a disastrous run of results, this is the moment he should be heavily involved in getting Celtic back on track.

Instead, he’s out on the greens, doing what he does best – nothing that helps us.

That shows you exactly where his priorities lie.

And Celtic’s wellbeing is certainly not at the top of them.

This is the same man who has tried to bring Roy Keane to Celtic Park more than once in the past.

If he ever had any intention of doing it again, now would be the time.

Ploughing blindly into the next six fixtures without changing anything is only going to end one way

Motherwell away, Benfica away, Hearts at home, Celta Vigo at home, Hibernian away and then Dundee United at home.

That’s what is waiting for us, starting at Fir Park on October 11.

Does anybody honestly believe we come through that lot unscathed as things stand?

I don’t.

If we go into those games with the same coaching team, the same mindset and the same fragile dressing room, it’s going to end in disaster.

Make no mistake, something has to give.

Keane as Celtic manager?

Definitely not.

Keane as Celtic no. 2?

Now that could work.

In fact, he could just be the key to fixing all of this…

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