”  In the absence of a league challenge; in requiring to work within Celtic’s business strategy that demands the development of players for selling that have often been scouted and recruited by others; and in consistently being expected to remain in on and off-field profit, the job clearly now has the potential to be a peculiarly unrewarding and draining experience – to which Neil Lennon would surely testify.

A business being expected to remain in profit ? Well, theres a novel and refreshing idea.

Keane, though, is in a wholly different position from Lennon. He has had the other jobs that Lennon now covets. And, in respect of his spell with Ipswich Town from 2009 to 2011, if not his earlier stint leading Sunderland back to the top flight, ultimately failed to convince that his wondrous playing abilities were transferable to the coaching sphere.

Theres the first little dig. Admitting he was a great player-which even the laptop loyal cannot deny, but he’s a shite manager. If he had been a good manager, they’d have picked on his temperament.

It is obvious what Celtic’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond sees in Keane, with whom he enjoys a level of friendship. This brooding, beguiling, brutal figure is a fascination magnet.

Oh, wait, he does;

Brooding, beguiling and brutal. Looks like his thesaurus only goes up to “B” , otherwise he’d surely have said, “clever, charming and charismatic ” 

Among the highest-profile figures to grace British football, he would make Celtic talked about and reported upon beyond these borders.

Oh, right. One of the unique things about Celtic is the enormous number of Supporters clubs outwith Glasgow or Scotland. We kind of get mentioned already.

A UK-wide profile is important to Desmond as he still hankers for Celtic moving beyond its Scottish base.

We have heard that Desmond really does want to waken his sleeping giant. But the base will remain in Scotland. It has to. Its where the stadium is.

Although many seem to think so, Keane would not be a great risk. It is impossible for a Celtic manager not to win the league, improbable that Celtic won’t do better in the domestic cups next season than last, and negotiating three qualifying rounds of the Champions League should not be as daunting as it is sometimes presented when two of these ties could quite easily be against part-time opponents.

Smith plays down Keanes achievements in Scotland, before he actually achieves them.

Granted though, you can question the fit of Keane and Celtic beyond these elements. The club need a coach who, above all, can foster camaraderie and self-improvement among the squad. Lennon excelled on both. However, there are questions over whether, with a managerial style seen as blunt and sergeant-major like, Keane can do the same.

As was true of him as a player, if Keane was at the top of the management game he wouldn’t come within 100 miles of Celtic Park. He certainly has a feeling for the club, that is beyond argument, but he only washed up in Glasgow in January 2006 because he needed sanctuary at a time when his body was beginning to rebel against him and his mind was a state of flux.

Er, he could have picked his club. Juventus were favourite for his signature at the time.

In terms of the burning desire to prove himself in frontline management, that has been patently reignited courtesy of coming under the wing of Martin O’Neill with the Republic these past six months, Celtic presents him with certain possibilities that no other club would offer him.

Former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland midfielder Ronnie Whelan gives voice to the obvious lure that could outweigh any disincentives where the managerial position at Celtic is concerned. “You have to remember there’s not an awful lot to beat if you’re manager at Celtic,” he said. “They won the league this year again by a sackload of points.

Like Bayern Munich did . And like Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two dominant sides in Spain didn’t. football isn’t as simple as that.

It’s the Champions League I’m sure he’d be looking at more than just managing Celtic day-to-day. But it’s Roy’s decision.”

Whelan thinks Keane does have a point to prove. “I think a lot of managers like that, when they have a bad experience at club level, they want to get back into it again, they don’t want to be scarred by the experience of being sacked at Ipswich or wherever. I think Roy wants to again get back into day-to-day management of a club side. Hopefully he waits with Ireland a little bit longer.”

That “longer” may well only be a couple of days.

Dare I say that the papers are a little worried about his arrival ? Keane could ignite Scottish football, and its profile, in a way that the old guard at the SFA, especially those charged with promoting it, have failed so miserably at. 

Anyway, we hear that Keane has already earmarked his first signing, designed solely to put bums on seats

His impending arrival does have at least one journalist excited though;

As if the Rangers saga doesn’t provide enough fun and games, here comes Roy Keane to Glasgow. Happy days..

If only they’d shown so much enthusiasm when the scandal at Ibrox broke all those years ago,  then perhaps thousands of Rangers fans wouldn’t have been fleeced of their money, and maybe some of the creditors wouldn’t have been stiffed either.