Former Liverpool, Tottenham and Celtic striker ‘in the frame’ for Preston North End manager vacancy - reports
The role has been vacant since Paul Heckingbottom’s departure on Sunday.
A new report has linked former Premier League striker Robbie Keane with the Preston North End manager’s job.
Alan Nixon says the Irishman is a ‘live contender’ for the role and could be tempted to take his first job in English football management, but Nixon adds that may be a challenge.
Keane, 46, has enjoyed a successful career in management so far. After a brief stint at Indian Super League club ATK as a player-manager in 2018, he was appointed head coach of Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Under his management, the club won the Israeli Premier League and the Toto Cup, but left at the end of the 2023-24 season.
In January 2025, he was appointed manager of Hungarian side Ferencváros and guided them to winning the country’s premier division in May 2025.
The following season, they won the country’s national cup and made it to the round of 16 in the Europa League before being knocked out by Braga. They finished second in the league, just a point behind champions Györi ETO.
This summer, he was seen as a strong candidate for the manager’s job at Celtic, but Martin O’Neill stayed on in that post for another season.
Keane had a decorated and well documented career as a player, picking up several individual accolades as well as winning the League Cup with Tottenham in 2008 and three MLS Cups with Los Angeles Galaxy.
He scored 122 goals in 306 games across all competitions for Spurs. He also played for Wolves - where he started his career - Coventry City, Inter Milan, Leeds United, Liverpool, Celtic, West Ham, Aston Villa and LA Galaxy - where he became immensely popular with supporters across the Atlantic.
He is the Republic of Ireland’s all-time top goal scorer, bagging on 68 occasions across 146 caps.