Keane Keeps That Champion Knack

Robbie Keane is celebrating a second title triumph in two seasons.

After leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to a league and cup double 12 months ago, he has now overseen Ferencvaros’s march to another top-flight Hungarian crown.

Last night’s 2-1 victory at Gyori in the final round of games made them champions for the seventh successive year and the 36th time in all.

But the outcome was by no means a given when the former Wolves striker took over, with Ferencvaros second in the table and rocked by Dutchman Pascal Jansen’s departure to join New York City on a four-year contract.

They didn’t win any of their first four league games after Keane was appointed in early January and also went out of the Europa League before clicking into a rich vein of form.

Wolves’ victims in the 1972 UEFA Cup semi-final could still have been caught at the weekend by Puskas Akademica despite leading them by three points and having a vastly superior goals difference at kick-off.

That’s because the first ‘tie-breaker’ in Hungarian football in the event of teams being level on points is matches won.

Ferencvaros would therefore have been vulnerable to being overtaken had they lost but goals just before and just after half-time left them comfortable before they conceded in the dying stages.

Keane became their head coach seven months after he and his coaching team – including Mike Stowell – decided to leave war-torn Israel early last summer.

Following the testing start in the role, glory came with a recent run of seven league wins out of eight and they ended the campaign by going 13 league matches unbeaten.

So, having reluctantly turned his back on a Champions League place with Maccabi, who went out in the second qualifying round under Serbian Zarko Lazetić, he finds himself in the tournament again.

At the same time, it will be fascinating to see what level of interest there might be in his services following his eye-catching successes.

Stowell, a team-mate of his from Molineux two and a half decades ago, would have considered going with him to Hungary in mid-season but Keane was not given the same freedom with hand-picking a backroom team as he was in Tel Aviv.

The only coach he was able to take with him was his no 2 Rory Delap, the former Stoke and Republic of Ireland midfielder whose son, Liam, has been Ipswich’s star turn in the Premier League this season.

We thank Robbie’s good friend, Matt Murray, for his help with this article, especially the explanation on the laws of Hungarian football! Keane turns 45 this July.