Robbie Keane: Future Celtic Manager Debate

Robbie Keane has been tipped as a future Celtic manager – and Ian Dowie insists the Irishman deserves to be judged on the touchline, not on the politics surrounding his past.

Keane, who most recently managed Ferencvaros, came close to landing the Celtic job on a permanent basis before the club turned to Martin O'Neill on a short-term deal. The move followed a storm of fan opposition, with sections of the support objecting to Keane’s previous spell in charge of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

That backlash left a mark. Not on Keane’s CV, but on the conversation around him.

Dowie, though, wants the debate dragged firmly back to football.

Speaking to BettingLounge, the former Crystal Palace boss said the resistance to Keane was rooted in where he has worked rather than what he has done as a coach. He understands the emotion, he said, but believes it has clouded the picture.

“I think he should really just be judged on his footballing ability,” Dowie argued, making it clear that Keane’s managerial credentials should be front and centre when Celtic’s future is discussed.

The Irishman’s name is unlikely to fade from that discussion any time soon. Dermot Desmond ultimately opted for O'Neill as a short-term solution, but the idea of Keane in the Parkhead dugout lingers in the background, ready to resurface whenever the managerial carousel begins to turn again.

Keane is not the only Irish candidate Dowie sees as a realistic option.

Damien Duff, who has quietly built a strong reputation in coaching circles, was also put forward as a serious contender for the Glasgow job. Dowie praised Duff’s body of work, saying he has “done a fantastic job wherever he's been,” and placed him alongside Keane in the bracket of credible successors.

“Both would be strong candidates,” Dowie said, stressing the scale of the task at Celtic. He described the club, along with Rangers, as a “huge entity” that demands a very specific mindset from anyone bold enough to take the reins.

That, in Dowie’s eyes, is where Keane and Duff stand out. He believes both possess the mentality required to handle the weight of expectation that comes with managing in Glasgow’s goldfish bowl.

Right now, Dowie suspects Keane might edge the race.

“I think Keane might be the favourite right now,” he said, before drawing a clear line between the man and the storm that has occasionally swirled around him. Dowie does not see Keane as a political figure, but as a coach who has been “dragged into the narrative a bit” because of where he has worked.

The question for Celtic, whenever the next decision comes, is whether they see the same thing: a manager to lead a giant, or a lightning rod for a debate that has nothing to do with what happens between the white lines.