Roy Keane is ready to leave his role at Sky Sports as his representatives make his interest in the Hibernian job known.
The former Manchester United skipper has been out of management for over a decade and has forged a career for himself as a pundit. He's often spoken about his desire to get back in the dugout but has yet to be handed an opportunity.
Hibernian sacked Shaun Maloney recently after he lasted just 120 days and the Scottish club are now seeking an individual with more experience. Keane's people have contacted those at Easter Road to make it known he wants to be considered for the role having been overlooked by Sunderland recently, reports The Sun.
The Black Cats were previously coached by Keane and they held talks over a return before they eventually opted for Alex Neil. Keane led Sunderland to promotion in 2007 and kept them in the top flight before being sacked in his third season.
His most recent job came at Ipswich, where he lasted 81 games before he was shown the door in January 2011 with the Tractor Boys sat 19th in the Championship. Since then he has been assistant to Paul Lambert at Aston Villa and also worked alongside Martin O'Neill at both the Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest.
Keane has previously confessed he remains drawn to a management return, insisting he believes he could cut it in the dugout. He said: "Obviously it’s not easy but when I went into management Sunderland were second-bottom of the Championship but Sunderland was a great club for me.
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"Could have done better at Ipswich but there was plusses at Ipswich. I think there’s something in there where I think I could be a good manager and it’s pulling me back in." Hibs owners Ron Gordon has confessed he will not be taking a punt on a new name when he announces his next manager which could play further into Keane's hands.
He said: "I don’t know if we can take that risk again (of appointing an inexperienced manager). We need to take risks from time to time but that one was a little too ambitious on our part. It could have gone the other way. Shaun could have done a fantastic job and we could be celebrating a terrific season.
“It didn’t pan out, that’s the beauty and challenge of football. How much risk do we want to take? I don’t know. We’ll cast our net wider in terms of recruitment of coaches and players and the kind of football we want to play. We don’t want to limit ourselves. We have a list of potentials which has a little bit of everything, but many are from the UK."
