ELITEENZOCAN PEP UP BHOYS
to become Neil Lennon’s permanent successor and Snodgrass is convinced he would be a success.
Maresca is currently Manchester City Under-23 boss and Snodgrass is a huge fan of his Etihad boss Guardiola’s attacking style of play. He was assistant manager to Manuel Pellegrini at the Hammers and also worked as No.2 at Sevilla to compatriot Vincenzo Montella where they helped lead the Spanish club to their first Champions League quarter-final.
And Snoddy, who insists he will want to bring his own staff, said: “Enzo is a great candidate for the job. He’ll have learned a lot working under Pep for a year and getting little ideas from him.
“What you see with Pep and his style of play, that’s what Enzo looked up to. When he was at West Ham there were three or four different managers he’d study and try to work like in and out of possession.
“I thought he was top class, an elite-level coach. You could see he had all the credentials to be a to gaffer but the game is changing now. They want to be called coaches rather than managers because they want to coach players to become better.
“Someone has to come in and give the Christies, Edouards and Griffiths their confidence back. But I believe he’ll have other clubs trying to get him because he’s that good.
“I worked with him for 18 months before David Moyes came in and West Ham wanted to keep him.
“Anyone who’s going to come in needs to have the same blueprint as Brendan Rodgers who stamped his authority early doors. I remember Scott Brown telling me he gave the lads homework in his first week on where they could become better.
“That’s why Celtic were so ruthless. Everyone was coming in to a high level. The next manager has a massive job on his hands but Enzo’s workrate is incredible.
“He’ll know himself that being a coach and a manager, where you have to deal with the media and things like that, is different and a lot of people in England maybe don’t realise Celtic is one of the world’s biggest clubs.
“You will realise that very quickly. Rodgers had been at Liverpool so he knew the expectations but I’ve kept in touch with Enzo and he knows what it takes to be a top manager.
“He’s been at some massive clubs and it’s not his first rodeo. But he would need to bring in his own personnel because he has his own style and he will create an identity that the fans will really enjoy.”
Snodgrass learned a huge amount under Maresca and says the Celtic squad would love working under him.
The West Brom man told Go Radio: “He took most of the sessions at West Ham. He had so much attention to detail and focused on positional play and showing lads how to exploit space.
“Pellegrini had a helluva lot of respect for him and wanted Enzo to go to Real Betis with him. But Enzo was at a stage where Pep rang him and gave him the chance to work with the Under-23s and replicate what they’re doing at City.
“I played centre midfield and he took my game to another level. At training sessions he’d get clips and show you different things and even the likes of Mark Noble learned a lot in a short space of time.”