Keane reiterates intention to become a manager and predicts ‘exciting’ times for Irish football

ROBBIE KEANE SAYS he intends to become a football manager, but doesn’t want to rush into it.

The legendary Irish striker is currently assistant to Jonathan Woodgate at Championship club Middlesbrough.

Dubliner Keane was also part of Mick McCarthy’s coaching staff with the Republic of Ireland but new manager Stephen Kenny has chosen not to include him in the new backroom team, which includes Keith Andrews, Damien Duff and Alan Kelly.

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With two years left on a reported €200,00-a-year FAI contract, his future with Ireland remains unclear.

Keane appeared on The Football Show on Sky Sports this morning, and presenter Dave Jones explained that he was unable to speak about that contractual situation.

However, the 39-year-old reiterated his plan to one day move into management.

“I’ve been doing my licence for a good few years and in May I’ll be finished my Uefa Pro Licence,” Keane told Jamie Carragher.

“I remember I was on holidays a couple of years ago and Marcello Lippi, who was my manager at Inter Milan told me ‘Robbie, take your time, if you are going to be a coach or a manager, you could be in it for 20-30 years, so don’t rush into it’. I have certainly taken his advice.

“I want to learn, I want to learn from different people and pick the brains of different managers and players that I have played with over the years.”

Under Kenny, Ireland’s U21s have become one of the most promising underage sides this country has produced in many years.

And Keane predicts a bright future for Irish football after the recent disappointments and FAI controversies.

“The mention of Troy Parrott has been thrown around quite a bit. Obviously, he only played a couple of times for Tottenham. I think [Aaron] Connolly also for Brighton could be a really good player.

“I think we are coming into a generation now that we have a lot of good young players coming through which is obviously exciting for Irish football.”