Roy Keane ready to LEAVE Sky for Hibs as reps make contact with Scottish club

MANCHESTER UNITED legend wants a return to management with Scottish side Hibernian.

SunSport understands reps of the Sky Sports pundit, 50, have made contact with Easter Road chiefs to confirm his interest.

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The former United skipper hasn’t worked in top-level management in more than a decade – when he was sacked as Ipswich Town boss in January 2011.

But he is ready to leave his TV duties behind to replace ex-Celtic team-mate Shaun Maloney.

Hibs owner Ron Gordon has said he’s likely to go with a more experienced gaffer after rookie Maloney lasted only 120 days.

Keane, who bossed Sunderland to the Premiership in 2007, has been assistant to Martin O’Neill with the Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest, and was Paul Lambert’s No2 at Aston Villa.

He was also interviewed for the vacant Sunderland job this year before talks broke down and Alex Neil was given the gig.

David Gray and Eddie May will remain in charge of the team until the end of the season.

Gordon admitted in the wake of Maloney’s sacking that he knew appointing the former Belgium no2 would be a risk.

He now says he will avoid making a similar mistake when selecting the next man to fill the hot seat at Easter Road.

US-based Gordon says he takes his share of the blame for the mess, having also axed Jack Ross in December, as he detailed the direction of the club’s search for a new boss.

He said: “I don’t know if we can take that risk again (of appointing an inexperienced manager).

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“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.”