Roy Keane’s box office appeal never ceases to amaze

Even Martin O’Neill found himself – when pressed last night – describing Roy Keane’s time so far in the Republic of Ireland set-up as a period of rehabilitation, and the northerner might not be the only one surprised that it has taken such a short time for the Corkman to become marketable again.

O’Neill said when he was appointed, just as he has continued to say, that he expected Keane (42) to be offered a job, and never suggested for a minute that he would stand in his way. For Keane to depart before a ball has been kicked in a competitive championship qualifier would still be something though.

Certainly FAI chief executive John Delaney seems to have been caught off guard by the speed of events. Only last Saturday he observed: "Both have huge commitment to the job and I know their sole thinking is that they want to get this team to France. I've never been bothered or worried about the speculation around it. I think they have demonstrated their commitment.

“Roy will be staying with us for sure,” he has also said. He may yet be proven right but Keane didn’t seem sure enough of his own position to simply rebuff the approaches.

Current role

To be fair, he has little to lose from talking to would-be suitors as he did on a couple of occasions before taking up his current role. Clearly the situation now is slightly different, though, and there is a widespread feeling that he is doing more than testing the water this time around.

It is not entirely certain either, though, whether Celtic are completely set on him or are weighing up their options behind the scenes, as O'Neill suggested they might be and the club itself claims it is.

However widespread the notion, in any case, that Dermot Desmond might give the Corkman the job on the basis that he is "box office," seems fanciful.

There was a lot of talk after Giovanni Trapattoni was shown the door that the current management team recruited to replace him would help bring back the legions of lost fans. However, the Turkey match at the weekend demonstrated how short-lived that theory to be. What Ireland need, as Delaney acknowledged last weekend, is to play better opponents in more prestigious games. And that, as it happens, is precisely what Celtic need too.

Home front

The idea that Keane’s presence in the Celtic dugout is going to dramatically change things seems far-fetched. But to give the Corkman the job on the basis that he is “box office” even if he did have that effect would be far less significant than his potential impact on how Celtic fare in the real measure of success for them these days – the Champions League.

In 2010, the club’s revenues from European competition amounted to around €2 million. In 2012-13, the corresponding figure was just over €27 million, around a third of total revenues with related income weighing in at nearly as much again.

With the league title taken for granted for next season at the very least, this is the real measure of success for Neil Lennon’s successor and it will be a desperately tricky one for the new man.

Whether Keane can deliver in those terms remains to be seen. His two spells in management have certainly not marked him out as a sure-fire success.

Still, he holds an appeal so perhaps the question is whether he would want to take the risk just now.

The sense is, though, that we would not be having this conversation, so to speak, unless both sides were fairly well on the way to taking the plunge together.