He will be Aston Villa manager by Christmas!
The former Sunderland and Ipswich boss is combining his role at Villa Park with his assistant manager’s position with Republic of Ireland.
Some have speculated Keane could step up to the top job should Villa endure a poor start to the campaign, but nothing is further from the 42-year-old’s mind.
“I’m not here to take Paul’s job,” he said, adding when asked if he would categorically state he would not be Villa’s next boss: “Absolutely.”
Instead, Keane wants to help Villa climb the table after successive 15th-placed finishes in the top-flight under Lambert.
He added: “I’m not promising any miracles but if I didn’t think I could bring anything to the party, I wouldn’t have signed.
“It’s been a tough few years for Villa but a lot of big clubs have had difficult spells before.
“I believe we are capable of showing an improvement on the last couple of years. Let’s wait and see.”