Roy Keane was appointed as assistant manager of Aston Villa Football Club this morning. In doing so, the former Republic of Ireland and Manchester United is one step away from returning to managing a Premier League club again. All that has to happen is for Villa manager Paul Lambert to take his club through a rough patch of form, and there’s no doubt that Keane will be ready and willing to replace the Scot who has underachieved at Villa Park and scrambled to keep the club from being relegated for two seasons in a row.

With Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner trying to sell the club to American billionaires, it’s likely that the new owners will have less patience for Aston Villa underachieving this season. At Villa, Lambert has a win percentage of 31%, so results will need to improve this season. In contrast, Lambert’s win percentage at Norwich City was 49%.

Meanwhile, Keane will continue his role as assistant manager to the Republic of Ireland team.

Both Keane and Lambert will travel with the Aston Villa squad for their preseason games in Texas this month.

In his first season as a manager at Sunderland, Keane led Sunderland to the summit of the Championship, twice winning the Championship manager of the month award and, at the end of the season, the Championship manager of the year award.

The Black Cats finished 15th in the Premier League in 2007-08 before Keane’s departure in December the following season.

Keane managed Ipswich from April 2009 to January 2011 before joining the Republic of Ireland as assistant manager to Martin O’Neill.