Rory Delap named as Robbie Keane's assistant head coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv

Former Republic of Ireland fitness coach Andy Liddell has also joined Keane's coaching staff.

Wed, 28 Jun, 2023 - 17:26

Andrew Horgan

Robbie Keane has appointed his former Republic of Ireland teammate Rory Delap as his assistant head coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Maccabi Tel Aviv announced on Wednesday afternoon that they had made several key appointments for Keane’s back-room staff, one of which is Delap, who will also be joined by former Ireland fitness coach Andy Liddell and former Middlesbrough senior analyst Phillip Hudson.

The club also confirmed that Keane’s assistant manager and goalkeeping coach will be named at a later stage.

Delap joins Maccabi from Championship side Stoke City where he worked between 2018-2023 as first team coach and development coach.

After retiring with more than 600 appearances across the English Leagues at Stoke City, Southampton, Derby County, Sunderland, Carlisle, Barnsley, Burton and the Republic of Ireland – Delap turned his attention to coaching.

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He joined Derby County’s Youth Academy in 2014 and in four years worked his way up as the Lead Coach of the U18’s and U21’s.

Liddell was Ireland’s fitness coach between 2019 and 2020 and worked with Keane during Mick McCarthy's second reign in charge of the national side.