A slew of bets on the former Manchester United and Celtic midfielder has seen the market suspended.
Roy Keane insists he has two jobs and he is pretty darn happy with two jobs, thank you.
Despite this, Ireland’s assistant boss [and ITV’s football pundit] continues to find his name linked with football jobs across the U.K.
Keane – or his agent – can expect to field calls from numerous sides, this summer, as they seek a new direction for 2016/17. The man himself has made no secret of the fact that he wants to go back to full-time management in a senior position.
The timing, then, is perfect for Celtic. The Scottish champions parted ways with Ronny Deila, have approached Keane in the past and would be keen to get a high-profile manager in.
DION FANNING: Roy Keane has the perfect job, Celtic should look for another manager https://t.co/eMhEJvdWor
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) April 24, 2016
Keane went from 8/1, with Boyle Sports, to 4/1 before the bookies suspended the market on him. A spokesperson for the company said a high number of bets on the Cork native in the past 24 hours was the prime factor in the decision.
Keane’s current odds (5pm) with Ladbrokes are 6/4. At 3pm, punters could get Keane-Celtic at 3/1 with Ladbrokes. That was down from 7/2 at 2:30pm. Clearly, Keane is on the move. A Ladbrokes spokesperson told us:
‘Roy Keane has been a popular selection in the Glasgow area with one putter staking £300 on the Irishman taking charge of Celtic next season and coupled with numerous bets across the country he’s been backed into 6/4 fav from 5/1 this morning.
‘Over the past seven days our biggest gambles have been on Brendan Rogers who was backed from 20/1 into 7/4, while our Northern Ireland punters fancy Dundee manager Paul Hartley to swap Dens Park for Parkhead with six three figure bets on the Scotsman.
‘It’s looking like Hoops fans are betting with their hearts on the next Celtic manager, and with so many names linked to the vacant position, fans and bookmakers will have to wait that bit longer for all to be revealed.’
To temper an sense of imminence, BBC reporter Chris McLaughlin insists Celtic are not ready to pull any triggers yet.
One bookmaker suspends betting on Roy Keane to #Celtic. Word from inside club is no decision imminent – still at stage of interviewing.
— Chris McLaughlin (@BBCchrismclaug) May 10, 2016
Interestingly, the other two heavily backed men in the market are Martin O’Neill, who Keane is working under at Ireland, and Paul Lambert, who he worked under at Aston Villa.
Neil Lennon would like the job but what he wants and what he gets may be on other plains. Brendan Rodgers is the current favourite.
