ROBBIE KEANE’S FIRST Championship game as a coach with Middlesbrough in August 2019 ended in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Luton Town.
Within minutes of full time, he bid farewell to manager Jonathan Woodgate and departed from the terraced streets around Kenilworth Road on the back of a motorbike so he could make a flight home to Dublin for a wedding.
Now he rides back into club football as part of Sam Allardyce’s hastily assembled Premier League rescue act – one whose origins can be traced back to Soccer Aid.
On Saturday they begin away to champions Manchester City, now closing in on a third successive Premier League title.
“Trying to shut him up in the first place. He never stops talking. I’ve known Robbie for quite a while, and we talked on many occasions about him getting into coaching. I worked with him at Soccer Aid a few times and I really liked his personality,” Allardyce explained of his relationship with Keane earlier this afternoon.
“Obviously, he was in my mind to come in and give everybody a lift. Not just by his coaching methods, for the front men particularly and strikers because obviously goals are very important, but also for the fact he’s Leeds through and through. He loves the place.”
Interestingly, that description as a jovial type of side act is exactly the kind of pigeon-holing Keane rallied against in the week of his first Boro game, when an interview with the Daily Mail turned sour after his fondness for a sing song was brought up.
“What the f**k? I’m not a clown. I’m not here to entertain people.
“What’s singing got to do with me being a coach? I like a laugh and joke. We don’t want people coming in here as miserable f***s. We want them to be happy, but for it to be done properly. It’s a serious job we’re doing.”
This will be a month that could help shape Keane’s future path in the game, one which for the past three years has seemed more and more likely to be confined to the rather safe and sterile atmospheres of Uefa boardrooms and conference centres than the cut and thrust of day-to-day coaching.
While Allardyce is set to earn a reported £3 million should he keep Leeds outside of the relegation zone – they’re currently 17th on goal difference, level on 30 points with Nottingham Forest in the drop zone and Leicester City in 16th spot – the financial benefits of arresting Leeds’ slide will be of little benefit compared to the good it could do for Keane’s reputation as a coach.
He rejected the chance to become Dundalk boss in 2020, other opportunities that didn’t appeal have also come his way, yet this offers him exposure at a level too good to turn down. The pros far outweigh the cons.
Allardyce’s No.2, Karl Robinson, is the same age as Keane and while he has nowhere near the same pedigree as a player, he is an experienced EFL boss who has MK Dons, Charlton Athletic and Oxford United on his CV.
For Keane, being part of a three-man coaching staff that is able to help inspire a set of players that have looked bereft of confidence and cohesion will serve as a timely reminder of his talents given he and Woodgate were axed by Boro less than a year into their stewardship.
Only a couple of weeks ago Ireland’s record scorer was photographed by The Sunday Times alongside Luis Figo and the controversial former FAI chief executive John Delaney.
It was a chance encounter on the streets of London, with Keane and Figo last month announced on Uefa’s new 24-person Football Board, established as an advisory body on matters to the executive committee.
Delaney was the man who gave Keane a €250,000 per year contract with the FAI when Mick McCarthy was appointed international boss in 2019.
The former Ireland captain’s deal was actually longer than McCarthy’s, but when Stephen Kenny took the reins as part of the succession plan that had been arranged it became apparent that there was no place for Keane.
Yet, he remained on the Abbotstown payroll until last summer.
The task facing Keane now is stark.
After City it will be Champions League-bound Newcastle United coming to Elland Road before a trip to another of Allardyce’s former clubs, West Ham United.
If Leeds can somehow make it to the final day of the season with their fate in their own hands, Tottenham Hotspur will be the last obstacle.
A fitting foe given his allegiances to north London.
Success would mean Keane will have more than one reason to be doing cartwheels at the end of this month.
It could be the beginning of another Premier League chapter that seemed to be firmly shut.