LAST UPDATE | 14 Jun 2019
ROBBIE KEANE HAS thanked Ireland manager Mick McCarthy for accommodating his appointment at Middlesbrough.
Currently working on McCarthy’s coaching staff, the 38-year-old has agreed to become assistant to Jonathan Woodgate at the Championship club.
Keane was insistent that he would only take up the new role if it meant he could balance both jobs, as he had no intention of stepping down from his position with the FAI.
“This is a great opportunity for me on my pathway to a manager’s job in the future and I am very excited about it,” Keane said, in a statement released by the FAI.
“I am also grateful to the FAI and to Mick McCarthy for allowing me to take this role and to continue with Ireland. I made it very clear to everyone at Middlesbrough that I would not be coming here if I had to give up my Ireland role and they are happy to agree.
Ireland means everything to me as it always has done and I look forward now to helping the team in our bid to make the Euro finals and those games in Dublin.”
McCarthy also expressed his delight at the news, adding.
“I am thrilled for Robbie as he takes the next step in his path to becoming a top manager. He told me about it the minute he was offered the job and I told him that it was only a runner if he continued with Ireland.
“We are building for the future with this Ireland team and Robbie is a key part of that. He has made a big impression on the players and the staff already as my assistant coach and this new role will only improve him which works for Middlesbrough and, most importantly, for Ireland.”
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