Former Aston Villa boss Paul Lambert believes that Roy Keane and the Ireland job is a "no-brainer."
Keane has not worked in football since leaving the Ireland job as assistant boss in 2018. Nowadays, the former Manchester United captain is a full-time pundit, but this hasn't stopped people from linking him to the vacant Republic of Ireland job.
Since Stephen Kenny was ejected from the role, there have been a number of candidates linked to the Irish job. These include the likes of Lee Carsley, Chris Hughton, Steve Bruce, and Keane himself. There are question marks as to whether Keane could handle himself in the role full-time because of his personality and also due to touchline rustiness.
However, Lambert believes that Keane's profile would allow him to excel in the role and that any of the problems mentioned already would not be a problem if he did get the role full-time.
"It's a no-brainer, for me, for him to step back into management with Ireland, if that was the case. He'd be hugely popular with the Irish supporters; he's got that link with Celtic too," said Lambert to Ladbrokes.
Former Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill and assistant manager Roy Keane, left, prior to the International Friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)"If you're asking me, 'could he do the job?' I'd say he could do it standing on his head—absolutely no problem. Will he go back into management, though? I don't know; maybe he likes the punditry side too much now.
"Put it this way: would it surprise me to see him in the Ireland job? No, it wouldn't, because it's in his make-up to manage. He's a great guy who really knows what he's talking about when it comes to football, so I wouldn't be surprised at all."
Keane's time as assistant boss in 2018 ended in unpleasant circumstances. Keane's personality and no-nonsense approach rubbed players up the wrong way. Last week, former Ireland player Jonathan Walters claimed that the "truth would come out eventually."
The current Irish squad is very different from the one that Keane left, and Lambert believes that a clean slate would allow Keane to get work done without the past baggage hanging over him.
"It's all changed, I think, at the top of the FAI since Roy was a player. It's a new regime, a clean sheet, really, so I don't think there'd be any problems there," he added.
"You won't know how he'll do it until you give him a chance. He was there as Martin [O'Neill]'s assistant; he knows the Irish fans, he understands the expectations, and he knows how it works.
"It would be a really interesting one if he did get asked whether he'd take it or not."
