Roy Keane has not led a club since leaving Ipswich Town in 2011, yet former Premier League star Andy Townsend has suggested the ex-Manchester United captain could return to the dugout
Andy Townsend believes Roy Keane has “unfinished business” when it comes to management. Keane first made a name for himself in the dugout after taking over Sunderland in 2006 and steering them to the Premier League.
A brief two-season tenure at Ipswich Town followed after he left the Black Cats in 2008. Despite not leading a team since 2011, he has held assistant roles over the years with the Republic of Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
Since leaving the City Ground in 2019, the former Manchester United captain has chosen to focus on his media duties for various outlets, including Sky Sports.
However, former Villa star Townsend thinks there may still be a future for Keane, 53, in management. “Everyone has respect for Roy Keane’s opinion, of course they do. I think he could go back into management,” he told OLBG.
“I’ve had a few chats with him over the years when I see him at matches and I think he could do it. I think there’s probably unfinished business in his blood a little bit with regards to football management.”
The ex-Chelsea man, who himself has worked as a pundit for the likes of ITV and talkSPORT since retiring, even claimed that Keane was the right man to succeed Erik ten Hag at United after the Dutchman was sacked by the Red Devils in October.
“When Erik ten Hag left Manchester United and they needed somebody to come in with a voice and to have an impact, Roy Keane would’ve been a voice to come in and to pick the supporters up who were so low at that point, the United fans,” he argued.
“I think he would have been great at that. I genuinely feel he could have done that. Of course, people always go, ‘No, you’ll fall out with everyone’. But I think he would have certainly given the supporters a lift. He would have had some impact with the players.”
However, Townsend conceded that Keane may have become too comfortable with his media duties to step back into the management breach.
He continued: “Doing the media job enables you to have control of your life and it might not give you the highs and lows that football management gives you, but it gives you control of your life and you’re able to say yes to this or no to that, do what you want to do, go home, shut the door and then it’s done and dusted.
“He may be enjoying that and the older you get and with every year that passes, it’s less likely that you’ll probably go into something.”
While Keane hasn’t managed in over a decade, he reportedly came close to taking charge of Celtic in 2013. But no agreement could be reached with his former club.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast in 2023, the ex-midfielder admitted he still ponders a return to the hot seat. “I would like to go back in, yeah. I would like another crack at it,” he said.
“Obviously I have been out of management for a number of years now, but still on a Saturday, I’m still agitated every Saturday, about not having a team, and I haven’t managed for nine, 10 or 11 years, so it never goes away.”
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