Robbie Keane appointed head coach of Hungarian champions Ferencvaros

Former Republic of Ireland skipper Robbie Keane has been appointed head coach at Hungarian champions Ferencvaros.

The 44-year-old, who left his role as Maccabi Tel Aviv boss in June having guided the Israeli club to the league title, replaces Pascal Jansen following his departure for New York City FC.

A statement on the club’s official website said: “We announce the successor to Dutchman Pascal Jansen to lead our 35-time champion and 24-time cup winner team, as the 146-time national team player of the Republic of Ireland Robbie Keane has signed on Monday.

“The new head coach arrived in Budapest on Sunday evening and will leave on Tuesday to join our team at the training camp in Spain.”

Keane scored a record 68 senior international goals during a 19-year playing career which included spells with Wolves, Coventry, Inter Milan, Leeds, Tottenham, Liverpool, Celtic, West Ham, LA Galaxy and Aston Villa.

He moved into coaching in 2018 as player-manager at ATK in India and worked as an assistant to Ireland boss Mick McCarthy during his second spell in charge, and later took up a similar role under former Spurs team-mate Jonathan Woodgate at Middlesbrough.

He was part of Sam Allardyce’s staff at Leeds as they unsuccessfully tried to pull off an unlikely escape from Premier League relegation at the end of the 2022-23 season, but was then offered the chance to manage in his own right by Maccabi.

Keane guided the Tel Aviv club to a league and cup double and took them to the last 16 in the European Conference League in his one season at the helm.

However, his reign attracted criticism at home in Ireland after he opted to remain in his post following Israel’s military action in Gaza.

Keane, who will be joined in Budapest by assistant coach Rory Delap and analyst Phill Hudson, later said he had stayed on for the sake of his players and staff and revealed he had rejected a lucrative offer to carry on his work.