Portsmouth weigh up managerial approach for former Republic of Ireland international | OneFootball

Portsmouth have added former Tottenham Hotspur forward Robbie Keane to a list of names they are taking under consideration for the managerial job at Fratton Park, according to Sky Sports News.

The 42-year-old is yet to take up a head coach role in the EFL but has spent time coaching in India in the past before moving on to take up the assistant manager role in the Republic of Ireland international setup.

He also spent time at Middlesbrough as Jonathan Woodgate’s assistant at the Riverside Stadium between 2019 and 2020 – but may now be looking to take on a top job himself having been linked with the Hull City vacancy following Shota Arveladze’s departure last year.

Quiz: Have any of these 25 ex-Portsmouth FC players ever played for a Yorkshire based team?

1 of 25

David James

Yes No

Although the Irishman was interested in succeeding Arveladze, it’s unclear whether the Tigers were interested in appointing him, but they hired Liam Rosenior in the end having missed out on Pedro Martins after the latter’s deal to take charge of the East Yorkshire collapsed.

And with this, Keane may be set to start his managerial career in League One with Pompey considering the 42-year-old as a potential successor for Danny Cowley, who was widely admired by the club’s fanbase but struggled to get points on the board towards the latter stages of his time on the south coast.

Leam Richardson also a contender and Liam Manning being linked.

The Verdict:

Considering Chris Wilder and Neil Warnock are reportedly open to either taking the job or receiving an approach from the third-tier outfit, you have to say Keane should probably be quite far down their managerial shortlist at this point.

That’s no disrespect to Keane who’s clearly a talented coach and deserves an opportunity to shine – but Wilder has multiple promotions on his CV and the same can be said for the experienced Warnock.

The latter two could be great options, though former Boro boss Wilder will need to get used to the fact he will be working within a very limited budget. He had a decent amount to spend at Boro but probably won’t have the same freedom on the south coast.

You could probably trust the 55-year-old to get a tune out of Pompey’s players though considering he made a decent early impact at the Riverside and Warnock has also squeezed the best out of his teams over the years.

Richardson wouldn’t be a bad appointment as well considering he has previously spent time at Pompey, so it would be difficult to see Keane winning this race, although stranger things have happened.