League of Ireland journalists David Sneyd and Johnny Ward uniformly dismissed the idea that Dundalk would be wise to look at Robbie Keane as their potential new manager.
Before the dust could be said to have started settling on Vinny Perth's Dundalk departure, reports have emerged that Robbie Keane, the Republic of Ireland's record leading goalscorer, is in the mix to replace Perth as manager.
After a disappointing run of domestic form this season, Dundalk's mid-week loss to Slovenian champions NK Celje in a Champions League qualifier signaled Perth's final game as manager.
An integral figure in Stephen Kenny's backroom team during Dundalk's resurgence in recent seasons, Perth stepped into the manager's role last season and guided the club to within a penalty shoot-out of a domestic quadruple.
His time at an end, Dundalk are now said to be looking at Robbie Keane as a potential replacement.
"This is a massive red-flag straight away," suggested journalist Johnny Ward of reports that the Dundalk board consider Keane a viable candidate on Off The Ball.
"Robbie Keane has absolutely nothing in his CV to suggests he is ready for this job. A League of Ireland job requires a little bit of specialist knowledge and especially if you're thrown in at the deep end in the middle of a season."
After a celebrated playing career, Keane has served as a coach of Mick McCarthy's with the Republic of Ireland and as assistant to Jonathan Woodgate with Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship. Both of these roles concluded earlier this year.
To David Sneyd's mind, the emphasis that the Dundalk board have put upon progressing in European competition is contrary to anything Keane appears to offer.
"I would be astonished if that comes to pass," the journalist remarked on Off The Ball.
"The whole model of Dundalk's owners, Peak6, is based on qualifying for Europe. Win the league and get into Europe, or there is just no point in them being here.
"Robbie Keane would be a major risk for that."
Meanwhile, as Dundalk look to find a new manager, Ward believes the answer to their problem lies within the league itself.
"If they had any brains," he suggested, "they'd be looking at Keith Long and Trevor Croly [at Bohemians], or they would look within County Louth at the two guys at Drogheda, Kevin Doherty and Tim Clancy.
"That would be the logical thing to do, but I doubt they'll even approach them. They will go and look for a big name and if it is Robbie Keane, I think that's quite hilarious, to be honest."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
