WALES are toying with the idea of installing Roy Keane as their national head coach, according to reports.
The Welsh FA relieved Rob Page of his duties on Friday after overseeing a failure to qualify for the ongoing Euros.
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There is more reason to buy into this link than previous Keane rumours as the Association is headed by Noel Mooney.
His name will be familiar to Irish football fans as he was longtime of the League of Ireland and latterly FAI under John Delaney.
He rose as high as Head of Marketing and Communications between 2006-12.
After departing for a series of executive roles at UEFA he returned to serve as the FAI’s interim CEO between June-December 2019 to steady the ship after Delaney’s controversial exit.
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It’s not the first time Keane’s name has cropped up around the Wales job either.
Like today’s report by the Press Association news agency, he was believed to be a prime candidate when Page’s job security came under threat in late 2023.
However, for all that there is some smoke around the Corkman and Ireland’s Celtic cousins, bookmakers don’t appear to be overly buying into it.
Osian Roberts is the 3/1 favourite while Wales legend Craig Bellamy is a very close second at 4/1.
Keane is listed at 12/1 behind a very random assortment of other contenders such as Sam Allardyce (6/1), Nathan Jones (8/1), Thierry Henry (12/1) and Liam Rosenior (also 12/1).
Page, 49, did lead Wales to their first World Cup for 64 years at Qatar 2022.
But he failed to qualify for Euro 2024 and this month’s drab results against Gibraltar, which was 0-0, and Slovakia, a 4-0 defeat, have proven to be his last in charge.
Dave Adams, FAW’s Chief Football Officer, said: “I would like to thank Rob for his work with the Association over the last seven years, firstly as the U21s Head Coach and then onto the role of Cymru Head Coach.”
“Rob’s work has delivered success reaching the Round of 16 at EURO 2020 and qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and during his period we also integrated 18 pathway players into the senior squad.
“As we move forward this experience will support our objective to consistently qualify our Men’s National Team to major tournaments.”
Mooney added: “On behalf of myself and the entire FAW, I extend our heartfelt gratitude to Rob for his commitment and dedication to his roles for the National Teams.”
“Under Rob Page’s leadership, our Cymru men’s team has achieved significant milestones and victories which have created many incredible memories for our nation, most notably our first World Cup in sixty-four years.
“We remain focused on our FAW value of ‘Excellence’ and look forward to the opportunities for our national teams and Welsh Football.”
Page faced heavy criticism after Wales’ poor showing at the World Cup 18 months ago, and then pressure mounted after an embarrassing Euro qualifying home defeat to Armenia.
But his team responded by beating Croatia as they looked set to reach a third-straight European Championship.
However, those hopes were dashed when they were beaten on penalties by Poland in the play-offs in March.