AMERICAN BHOY
While biggest names might be out of Parkhead club’s reach, there’s no reason they can’t aim high for next boss, writes Graeme McGarry
IT was a year ago this week that Rangers last lost a match in the Scottish Premiership. Had any pundit or journalist predicted then what would occur in the 12 months that followed in Scottish football, leaving aside the minor issue of a global pandemic, they would either have been pegged as a deluded Rangers sympathiser who had partaken of the succulent lamb, or perhaps even been paid a visit by those nice men with the butterfly nets.
Due credit must be given to Rangers and Steven Gerrard for the way they have turned their fortunes around in the intervening period, but even now in their gleeful schadenfreude towards their great rivals, they must be flabbergasted by the implosion on the other side of the city.
A year ago this week, Celtic had a 13 point lead at the top of the table. Now, they are 18 points behind.
Peter Lawwell’s position of power at the club and in the Scottish game was undisputed. Now, he is on his way out the door. Neil Lennon was the returning hero who had placed a steady hand on the tiller following the departure of Brendan Rodgers, and was set to cement his legendary status at Celtic by steering the club to 10 in-a-row. Now, he is a pariah to many of the supporters who used to adore him.
It is quite the turnaround. If the Rangers “journey” is being billed by their fans as a sporting comeback to rival that of Muhammad Ali, then Celtic this season have been cast as his opponent Jerry Quarry, able only to produce a token resistance before being overwhelmed. Though in fairness to Quarry, at least he was game for the fight.
As a result of their annus horribilis, and for – perhaps understandably – failing entirely to plan for such a catastrophic turn of events, this summer will see Celtic in their greatest state of flux for many years.
Perhaps the closest they have come to such a calamitous state was back in 2016, when a penalty shootout defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final prompted principle shareholder Dermot Desmond to raise the bar at the club by appointing a genuinely world-class coach in Brendan Rodgers. If that was his response to the situation Celtic were in then, then this current state of affairs would merit a tilt at luring Pep Guardiola north.
Sadly, Pep may just be out of Celtic’s stratosphere. But that doesn’t mean that the club should not be thinking big when it comes to their next managerial appointment. Dominic McKay will be replacing Lawwell as chief executive, and as he has shown a savvy knack for tuning into the needs of supporters in his previous role with the SRU, it is likely he knows all too well the need for a marquee appointment of sorts in order to appease a wounded fanbase. But the need for a heavy hitter in the dugout at Celtic goes way beyond tokenism in order to secure season ticket renewals.
For all that the deterioration in standards around Lennoxtown under Lennon was exaggerated, there can be little debate that the team has regressed in both a physical and tactical sense since the departure of Rodgers.
To get them back to such a level will require a coach from a similar mould, and it is little wonder that the names exciting supporters the most appear to be those cut from comparable cloth.
Rafa Benitez may be out of Celtic’s financial reach, but then again, the same might have been suspected of Rodgers before he was persuaded to come to Glasgow. At this stage of his career though, Benitez does not have
the same need for a platform to restore his reputation on his way back to the English Premier League as Rodgers did five years ago.
Eddie Howe is a name that has been consistently linked with the position, and speculation has only increased further this week after comments from his former director of football at Bournemouth, David Webb. Webb not only described
Howe as a good fit for the
Celtic managerial role, but spoke of his own openness to a reunion with him in Glasgow as director of football, a position that Celtic are also looking to fill as part of the modernisation of their structure.
For me, perhaps the most interesting name put forward has been that of RB Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch.
Packie Bonner, John Collins and James McFadden are among the pundits to have thrown their weight behind the 47-year-old American as the perfect man to revive Celtic’s fortunes on the field, and to raise standards behind the scenes.
Bonner has already described him as being in the Rodgers mould, but he also seems to possess a bit of the old school fire that is sometimes required, as evidenced by his famous rant at his Salzburg players after they had put in a meek first-half performance in a Champions League tie at Anfield.
“This is not a f ****** friendly!” he barked. “This is a f ****** Champions League
The need for a heavy hitter in the dugout goes beyond tokenism to secure season ticket renewals
match! We need to step up. There is too much respect for the opponent. Too much respect for the opponent!
“There is no real tackle or a fight. They have to feel us, guys. They have to know we’re f ****** here to compete.”
If Lennon suffered during his second spell as manager by trying to ape the softer approach of the modern coach, thus dampening that famous fire in his belly, then Marsch appears to be someone who straddles that divide between the time-tested and progressive approaches a great deal more effectively.
He may not be a household name on these shores just yet, but he has a CV which would excite fans, and the highpressing, high-energy style of his teams seem a perfect fit with the ideals that Celtic supporters hold for how their side should play.
Current interim manager John Kennedy may well go on to be a fine manager in his own right, and may even be permanent Celtic boss one day. His opportunity to impress in the role may well have come with the most unfortunate timing though, and his moment is not now.
Celtic need a clean break. They have to blow away the stench of failure that has lingered around this campaign since around November, the season they let history slip from their grasp, with a statement of their ambition. Their first aim should be to reclaim their status as the top team in Scotland, but staying just a little ahead of Rangers cannot be the limit of their aspirations any longer.
Whether it be with
Benitez, Howe, Marsch or another contender, they have to think big.
HAMILTON ACCIES are seeing the best of Ross Callachan because he feels “loved” at the club, according to veteran full-back Brian Easton.
Callachan netted an exquisite strike on Wednesday night against his former club St Johnstone and for large chunks of the game it look like being sufficient to lift Accies off the foot of the table.
Guy Melamed’s late goal denied them what would have been a substantial three points but Callachan discovering his full potential at the club is down to his sense of belonging.
“We see that all the time in training,” said Easton. “It was brilliant, he just finished into the top bin over big Zander [Clark]. He’s absolutely flying at the moment. I’m delighted for him as he gives so much. I played with him at St Johnstone but here I think he’s a bit more loved and is getting some more opportunities.
“He seems to be thriving on it. He’s a massive player for us.
“It is just feeling loved. At St Johnstone they had a lot of quality and he was in and out but here he has made himself a vital player for us and he’s loving it. If he keeps scoring goals like that we’ll be loving him a bit more!”
That sense of camaraderie is what Easton believes can keep Accies in the top flight.
Hamilton face Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Saturday as they seek to engineer their way off the bottom.
They are stuck at the foot of the table on goal difference but have a game in hand to play which could edge them ahead of Kilmarnock. And Easton has conceded that the permeations of the games and their outcomes is hard not to try and predict.
“You try to not look at the table but you do and you think ‘if we win this and they drop points there…,” said Easton. “But you can’t really do that. You just need to focus on the next game.
“But you can see the fighting spirit. It’s brilliant. We have got eight games left and we’re going to give it a real go.
“It galvanises you. You can feel that energy in the changing room. It’s not something that you can just magically just tell your players to do. It only comes when you’ve got good honest boys who are willing to work hard.
“When we played Rangers here, you could just sense it at the start of the game.
“It helps that as a club we see this every year. We never stop fighting. We never let ourselves get too down. Wednesday night was disappointing but we woke up ready to go again. It is a great outlet and there is a great atmosphere here at the club. We still believe we can pick up points and move up the table. “
Easton has believes that St Johnstone’s League Cup win will offer belief to other clubs that the opportunity of winning silverware is a realistic ambition. Easton was part of Saints Scottish Cup win in 2014 and was delighted with the clarification that this season’s Scottish Cup will go ahead.
“With Celtic dominating over the last four years it has dampened those hopes a bit but St Johnstone and Livingston have both just showed that anything is possible,” he said. “If you get the draw it is a one-off game and you never know where it can take you.
“You never plan on it but every year I always think ‘I want to get to a final again and win something.’ I am glad it is on because we didn’t want it scrapped or played next season.”