“It would be a massive, massive risk” – Should Hull City consider 42-year-old amid his interest in managerial vacancy? The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

With Hull City on the search for a new manager, naturally there have been plenty of names linked with the club in recent days.

One of those names if former Republic of Ireland international Robbie Keane.

As per HullLive, the 42-year-old holds an interest in the current MKM Stadium vacancy.

Keane has previously been a player-manager with ATK in India, and assistant boss with the Republic of Ireland and Middlesbrough.

With that said, we asked three of our FLW writers whether or not the Tigers should seriously consider Keane for the job.

Alfie Burns

It feels like it would be a massive, massive risk. Not just for Hull but also Keane.

Starting with Hull, they have been really poor for a large part of the season so far. They had a decent start but have fallen quite dramatically.

Looking at the table and seeing them in 20th, West Brom in 21st, Middlesbrough in 22nd and Coventry bottom, out of those three sides, it’s Hull who you feel are the most likely to stay there.

That makes this appointment huge for the club and you question the potential risk of Keane.

Keane himself would be taking a risk going to Hull. It’s still a job in the spotlight of the Championship, and not an easy job at that. Why would he want to take such a risk at this stage of his career? There are easier jobs out there.

It just doesn’t feel the right fit to me at all.

Quiz: Did Hull City win, draw or lose the last time they played at these 18 stadiums?

1 of 18

Anfield

W D L

Adam Jones

There are probably more suitable candidates out there at this stage.

In the Tigers’ current situation, they need an experienced head who can come in and steady the ship, one reason why it’s a shame they missed out on Slaven Bilic.

Slavisa Jokanovic may be a decent alternative – but he made a very slow start to life at Sheffield United last season and with that – the Serbian may not be the best candidate for the job.

Keane may have also had coaching experience in the Championship from his time at Middlesbrough – but he hasn’t taken a top job at this level and it would probably be too much of a risk to appoint him at this stage.

His playing CV may be impressive – but he needs more experience under his belt like John Eustace had at QPR before being appointed at Birmingham City.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

It’s really hard to assess this one in fairness.

Keane has very very limited managerial experience having only been a player-manager in India for a short period and with the greatest of respects to the Indian Super League, the Championship is a completely different kettle of fish.

Of course, Keane has had assistant manager experience on the international stage and indeed in the second tier, but you do feel like appointing him for his first job in a major league would be a huge gamble for Hull to take.

Given the squad they have assembled, Acun Ilicali will likely be looking for instant success and it’s hard to say whether Keane could bring that at this stage.

He may well go on to have an excellent managerial career, but given we are yet to see him in the dugout as a manager and manager only, it may be that Hull are wise to swerve his interest this time around.