Robbie Keane is being welcomed in Israel with huge anticipation, even though fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv acknowledge that the appointment is somewhat of a risk, bearing in mind his lack of top-flight managerial experience.
“The Irish Legend is Coming to Israel” was the front-page banner headline in Tuesday’s Yisrael Hayom newspaper.
Given the huge popularity of the English premier league in Israel, Robbie Keane is a well-known figure and the appointment is considered somewhat of a coup for the Tel Aviv team. However, despite the familiarity with the English league, the flagship sports programme on Israeli television still deemed it necessary to open its Monday night bulletin with a clarification that the new manager is not Roy Keane, described as “the bad boy of Irish football” but Robbie Keane, ”the good boy of Irish football.”
Keane’s arrival is already the main talking point with fans in the buildup to next season. All eyes will be on Maccabi and fans will be hoping that the ‘Keane factor’ will be enough to enable the team once again challenge for the top honours after a few seasons without winning a trophy.
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Maccabi Tel Aviv are one of the top teams in Israel, with home attendances of 20,000 plus, and historically, the country’s wealthiest and most successful team. Together with cross-city rivals Hapoel, Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Beersheba they make up one of Israel’s top-five teams that dominate the domestic league.
The rivalry with Hapoel Tel Aviv creates the biggest derby in Israel although Hapoel are not the force they once were and spent a few years in Israel’s second division before recently returning to the top league. Hooliganism, fighting between rival fans and the firing of flares are now, unfortunately, part and parcel of the Israeli game and the Tel Aviv derby has become a major headache for the police.
Both clubs share the recently renovated 29,000-capacity Bloomfield stadium in Tel Aviv’s mixed Jewish-Arab neighbourhood of Jaffa.
Tel Aviv is one of the most expensive cities in the world. A booming, hi-tech cosmopolitan centre and somewhat of a liberal bubble of tolerance in contemporary Israel, as well as the country’s gay capital.
Founded in 1906, Maccabi Tel Aviv have won more titles than any other Israeli club, winning both the league and the Israeli cup 24 times. The team competed in the UEFA Champions League group stages twice (2004/05 and 2015/16) and have also qualified to the Europa League five times.
Last season Maccabi finished third in the league, behind champions Maccabi Haifa and second-place Hapoel Beersheba. Maccabi Tel Aviv haven’t won the Israeli championship since 2020, with Maccabi Haifa dominating the domestic league in recent years, winning three consecutive titles. That is Robbie Keane’s task: to restore the position of Maccabi Tel Aviv as the preeminent force in Israeli football.
However, the grace period will not last long. Mitchell Goldhar, the billionaire Canadian owner of Maccabi, has appointed a host of foreign managers in recent seasons: most were tossed aside after a few months when results failed to match expectations. Robbie Keane will have to prove his managerial prowess relatively quickly if he doesn’t want to become the latest name on Maccabi’s list of failed managers.
