When the first rumours of Roy Keane being interested in the vacant managers job at Hibernian surfaced over the weekend most supporters had a bit of a chuckle and thought it was clearly a non starter, despite it surfacing in the Sunday Times rather than being authored by a rag tag red top journalist.
Fast forward a few days and here we are, seriously discussing, the prospect of him taking over from Shaun Maloney in the Easter Road hot seat.
The majority of newspapers are running the same story, Hibs are conducting managerial interviews in England, with a certain Mr Keane having made contact with the club.
Fans generally seem pretty excited about the possible arrival of the legendary Irishman however there are a few gloomier than thou types who would rather focus on a disappointing spell at Ipswich Town than his spell at Sunderland where he led them to promotion to the English Premiership.
We’re all aware Keane hasn’t managed in over a decade, no need to keep bringing that up, but it’s not as if he’s been tending to his garden during this time. Assistant roles at Aston Villa and with the Republic of Ireland have seen him keep his eye in. Now it’s his time to get back in the driving seat and be his own man again.
Make no mistake. This would be an enormous appointment for Hibs and Scottish football. Immediate box office and the benefits of having a true legend of the British game in charge should exponentially boost not only our profile but increase gates and sponsorship deals.
Our last no-nonsense manager was Neil Lennon and bar his final three months fee would argue at the impact he had at Easter Road. The team were more united and showed more spirit even latterly than the current have under Jack Ross and Shaun Maloney.
If Hibs do manage to persuade Keane he can achieve his ambitions in Leith then it’s time to hold onto your hats and enjoy the ride. It’ll be pretty special one way or the other.
