Moyes admits Old Firm jobs would hold strong appeal
DAvId MOYES admits he would be interested in managing either Rangers or Celtic in the future. The former Manchester United and Everton boss has been out of a job since leaving West Ham at the end of last season.
In an interview with Simon Ferry’s Open Goal website, Moyes was asked if he would be tempted by the prospect of managing one of the Glasgow giants if Steven Gerrard or Brendan Rodgers departed.
Moyes said: ‘Yeah, I would be. I’ve been close to them once or twice and thought about it a lot.
‘It’s my home and I’d like to come back sometime, but while the Premier League’s so strong, that’d still remain my interest.’
Moyes also warned Celtic not to underestimate Europa League opponents Salzburg this week despite them being the ‘little brother’ of Group B’s Red Bull duo. The Austrian champions, alongside Celtic and Rosenborg, are joined in the group by RB Leipzig, who they share strong relations with in the Red Bull Global Soccer network.
Those relations are not often kind to Salzburg, however, who have seen 12 players — including new £53million Liverpool star Naby Keita — depart for Leipzig and the higher stature of the German Bundesliga since 2013.
despite this, it was Salzburg who came out on top when the teams met in the inaugural ‘Red Bull derby’ on matchday one, Fredrik Gulbrandsen’s 89th-minute strike earning a 3-2 win in Saxony.
Moyes travelled to Red Bull’s Austria base earlier this season and believes Brendan Rodgers’ side will have their hands full on Thursday.
‘I don’t think there are any easy games,’ said Moyes (above). ‘With Salzburg, you might be thinking: “The Austrian league? Who’s in that?”. You might struggle to name the teams.
‘But they got to the semi-final of the Europa League last year and that’s where you’d hope Celtic would get to. It’s a bit like Leipzig are the big brother, taking what they want (from Salzburg).
‘But look at Salzburg — to get to the semi-final they clearly don’t need support from big brother.
‘You’d think Leipzig would be the stronger team but both games will be tough for Celtic.’
Indeed, the last time Celtic faced Salzburg four years ago, they were beaten 3-1 at Parkhead, sealed late on by a then-19-yearold Keita. The Austrians can also boast similar domestic dominance to Celtic, winning five straight titles and eight of the last ten.
Red Bull’s success with Salzburg and Leipzig, who they became affiliated with in 2005 and 2009 respectively, is heavily linked to their overseas scouting work, boosted by numerous academies. These include Red Bull Brazil, the now-defunct Red Bull Ghana, and Liefering, a second-tier Austrian team acting as Salzburg’s feeder club. Consequently, of the 46 players registered in the two clubs’ Europa League squads, just two came through their respective team’s youth academy, while 16 were sourced from other clubs down the Red Bull food chain. Moyes had high praise for Red Bull’s approach, likening them to Manchester City’s owners City Football Group — which runs clubs in six countries — and predicting intercontinental, franchise-style operations will soon proliferate.
He said: ‘Look at the players who’ve come out of Red Bull and into big clubs, like Keita, (Sadio) Mane, there are two or three others. They’ve got an awful lot of players from Africa. They’re getting them in early enough, developing them and selling them on.
‘The weekend we were there was an Under-16s tournament. They had Red Bull teams from Leipzig, Salzburg, New York and Brazil, as well as Chelsea, Southampton and an African side.
‘I thought: “This is a great idea”. They’ve got a chance to see all Red Bull’s players and where they can move them to. You have Manchester City’s model as well. There are a few clubs realising this is the way forward.’