Keane poised to join Villa as assistant to Lambert

Roy Keane, who turned up at Cork City’s match last night, is set to be appointed Aston Villa’s assistant manager next week after Ireland boss Martin O’Neill agreed to allow his sidekick job-share.

Although Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney appeared to rule out Keane fulfilling a double-job role in April, they are powerless to stop the Corkman’s desire to accept an offer from Villa boss Paul Lambert.

Keane’s move to Villa in time for pre-season training on Monday week won’t detract from his commitments with Ireland during international get-togethers. It will, however, put the brakes on his intensive scouting missions for O’Neill.

That function will instead fall to Steve Walford and Steve Guppy, who were reunited with the Ireland manager on his backroom team for the recent friendlies.

The FAI refused to comment on Keane’s imminent appointment at Villa Park last night but are understood to be ready to clarify the matter this weekend.

Lambert turned to Keane last month after Villa sacked his former assistants Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa for disciplinary reasons.

It’s understood the former Ireland captain was originally lukewarm on the proposal but, after rejecting the chance to become Celtic manager, grew more amenable to combining the Villa post with his Ireland role.

The 42-year-old is not put off by the notion of joining a club in the midst of an uncertain future.

After narrowly avoiding relegation to the Championship for a second successive season, Villa were put up for sale by American owner Randy Lerner and await a buyer.

Lambert’s own position is also far from safe. New owners for English clubs are known to demand swift results and, should the Scot not deliver, Keane could be caught in the crossfire.

For now, that won’t concern the Irishman, who is a long-time acquaintance of Lambert’s.

How the FAI, especially Delaney, present the new arrangement will be intriguing.

Still, as speculation mounted earlier this month about Lambert coveting Keane, O’Neill insisted the Corkman’s ’role with Ireland was part-time and he wasn’t aware of any contractual clause debarring him from taking up a club position in tandem.