Robbie Keane hardly lacks football experience at the highest level, but his instant exposure to managing Ferencváros in the Europa League puts him on a unique journey for an Irish coach.
Keane was always a little bit special, ever since he burst on to the scene as a teenage forward.
Thursday’s 4-3 victory over AK Alkmaar in Budapest, which saw Ferencváros advance from the group stages, was the latest landmark on the singular path he is setting out on.
While the likes of Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane can impart wisdom from a combined total of more than 500 games as Sunderland and Ipswich Town managers, largely in the English Championship, the 44-year-old Keane does not appear destined for that type of career.
Martin O’Neill’s famous Champions League nights as Celtic manager and Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk adventures across the continent are in Keane’s sights.
In just two seasons as a manager, first at Maccabi Tel Aviv and now in Hungary, Keane has guided his teams to the knockout rounds of European competition. That alone signals a promising start to a life on the sideline that he envisages lasting for at least 20 years.
Ferencváros will face Czech side Viktoria Plzeň in the Europa League play-offs next month to reach the last 16, after Keane’s home debut as boss of the Hungarian champions showcased a manager who appears to know what he is doing. Having Rory Delap as his number two helped immeasurably as their tactics supercharged the 18,000 crowd in the Groupama Arena with three goals in the first half, mainly down to an inspirational performance from Mali international Adama Traoré. “Playing Adama on the right, on his left foot, that was something we worked on this week,” said Keane. “And people arriving into the box and getting into them spaces that we can score goals. Ultimately, that’s where we scored Dani’s [Ben Romdhane] two goals from.
“From that aspect, I was very, very pleased. I’m glad the guys are listening.”
The Ferencváros players appeared to have a collective brain freeze in the last 10 minutes on Thursday as Troy Parrott and Sven Mijnans stormed off the Alkmaar bench to turn a comfortable 4-1 lead for Keane’s team into a nervy 4-3 escape.
“I was pleased with the first 85 minutes, I thought we were in control,” Keane continued. “We played some good football at times, I just think in the last 10 minutes, you need to manage the game. You have to be clever.
“Mostly it’s concentration but I won’t dwell too much on the last 10 minutes. It’s my job to get this team to go out every week, be intense and try to score as many goals as possible and concede less.”
Keane’s media interactions this week impressed as much as his tactical partnership with Delap. The former Republic of Ireland captain was composed when queried about his time in Israel and he had a strong opinion on Parrott’s road less travelled to the Netherlands after the Irish striker was unable to establish himself at Tottenham Hotspur.
“Troy’s goal was an incredible finish. He looked sharp. He did say he was having some problems with playing twice a week because of the niggle that he has.
“You can see that he’s thriving in that team, even with the third goal. The cleverness of the little [step] over, it reminded me of myself and [Dimitar] Berbatov [at Spurs], so he’s getting better and better.”
Keane could have left it there. Instead, he noted that Ireland under Kenny and now Heimir Hallgrímsson have underused the 22-year-old.
“Personally, I think Troy should be having more game time with the national team over the last year or two years, if I’m being honest. I think he has something different, he’s clever, he’s difficult to play against because he can go in behind and he can come short.
“In ways, he’s very similar to me. The two of us weren’t the quickest but we’re sharp over 10, 15 yards. And then you see how his brain works on the football pitch.”
Keane and Delap are in rhythm now, as they aim to reel in Hungarian league leaders Puskás Akadémia and secure a seventh straight national championship. Nothing less will suffice for club president Gábor Kubatov and the hugely passionate “Fradi” fan base.
“There’s still a learning period for the lads,” Keane warned. “You have to understand from their point of view, they’ve had three managers in one year. The manager before was different from how I want to play. You see how I want to play in terms of intensity and getting goals. We can do that, with other aspects of the game. For example, the distances between the centre backs and the strikers when the ball goes forward, they have to be shorter, much shorter. But they’re learning, they’re starting to understand.”
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to the Counter Ruck podcast for the best rugby chat and analysis
