Departing Celtic manager Ronny Deila believes Roy Keane would have the personality required to manage the Glasgow giants.
The Norwegian finished his two-year tenure in the Celtic hotseat as the Bhoys hammered Motherwell 7-0 at Parkhead, with debutant Jack Aitchison (16) scoring on his debut.
The club will begin the search for his successor and the Republic of Ireland assistant manager, who played for the Glasgow club in the 2005/06 season, has been heavily linked with the job.
"Keane has the strong personality to be a very good leader...He's a legend in Norway"
Last week Ireland boss Martin O'Neill admitted the former Manchester United captain would be a good fit for Celtic if they turned to him in their search and Deila gave his thoughts on the possibility of Keane’s return to club management since leaving Ipswich in 2011.
“So much of managing in this job is about personality because you need to be a figurehead too. You need a strong personality. [Keane] will handle all that pressure, to be a very good leader,” he told the Scottish Daily Record.
“Also, I think it’s important in this kind of job to have experience. It makes things easier. Having said that, there aren’t many places you get experiences like this. If the new manager will call, I’ll tell him what I think about things and help him if I can.
“But Roy Keane is Irish, of course. He has played at Celtic, he knows what the club’s about, so he has a skill-set that could be good in the job”
Deila, who won two Scottish titles in charge of Celtic, outlined how highly Keane is thought of in his homeland.
“Roy Keane is a legend in Norway,” he said. “There are so many Manchester United fans there and if you ask them about Roy Keane, he is a star if he comes to Norway. I have a cousin who would die for him. He just loves him”
“I just thought he was a fantastic football player. I loved watching him playing football and he’s a strong character."
Keane, 44, spoke to the Bhoys two summers ago about the vacancy to which Deila was eventually appointed.
O’Neill added that while Keane could “absolutely” do a job at his former club, there has yet to be any contact from Celtic.
“I think Celtic is one of the great clubs in the world and I have to say that he was one of the great players in the world, so that's not a bad fit for a start," he said.
“Could he do the job? I would have no problems with that whatsoever. Would he be capable of doing that? Absolutely.
“But as Roy said, you still have to be asked and so far, I'm not so sure that that's been the case.”
