PARADISE LOST
Effectively frozen out at Celtic, Jim McGuinness finds himself on a fast boat to China
THE great Gael of Glenties is now a long way from home and, in the landscape of the sport in which Jim McGuinness has been plotting a bright new future over the past five years, he finds himself in a dank football outpost.
As the new assistant manager to Roger Schmidt at Beijing Sinobo Guoan in the Chinese Super League, McGuinness’s career has taken a dramatic twist. Not quite like a character being killed off in a television drama, rather one who ends up in a coma. Who knows if he will come out of it the other side?
Never one to follow convention, either as a player or manager with Donegal, this latest move doesn’t quite strike the same chord as when he announced he would join Celtic as a performance consultant on a part-time basis just months after masterminding their 2012 All-Ireland triumph.
McGuiness has never limited his ambitions to the GAA and for all his drive, talent and education in his new field over the past five years, a coaching career still in its infancy (his most recent position was Under-20 assistant at Celtic) is at a precarious crossroads rather than the beginning of an exciting journey.
Mention Chinese football and only one word comes to mind: money. As an unknown No.2 he will likely be well rewarded, but won’t be pocketing the sort of cash thrown at some of the vacuous stars of the European game who, for one reason or a few million others, have been lured to the Far East.
The merits of McGuinness’s move to China shouldn’t be viewed solely through the prism of finance but there can be no getting away from what has attracted so many others there. The legendary Fabio Capello took charge of Jiangsu Suning just a couple of weeks ago, a final sojourn before the 71-year-old returns to Italy to continue his retirement, while once-promising managers seemingly burnt out by failure have arrived to earn, erm, respite.
Gus Poyet, formerly of Brighton, Sunderland, AEK Athens and Real Betis has been at the helm of Shanghai Shenua since November and city rivals SIPG are led by Andres Villas Boas. Not yet 40, the Portuguese’s pension pot is sure to be topped up nicely following the trying experiences at Chelsea and Tottenham that resulted in the coach being handed his P45. Villas Boas was beginning to rebuild his reputation with Zenit St Petersburg, winning the Russian title and reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League, before jumping on the Orient Express. Even McGuinness’ new boss, Schmidt, is searching for redemption since being sacked by Bayer Leverkusen in March after being handed the reins three years ago on the back of a league and cup winning season with Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.
Two successful Bundesliga seasons — finishing fourth and third — were backed up by reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League last time out but he was shown the door soon after.
These tales of woe are relevant because even though McGuinness is at a different stage of his career to his peers, he finds himself in China because of stagnation at Celtic rather than a carefully planned route to his ultimate goal of becoming a manager.
‘I could hit a brick wall, I’m coming from a different culture into another culture. I’m learning a huge amount on a daily basis, on a weekly basis and I’m trying to draw on all my experiences previously,’ he said in an interview with Newstalk just over a month ago in relation to the current state of play in Glasgow.
And it appears that the brick wall to his ambitions was put up by Brendan Rodgers last summer. Having been brought into the setup by Neil Lennon five years ago, the former Donegal boss had enjoyed steady progress.
From working solely with the academy players to then taking his UEFA B Licence and becoming a more prominent part of the first-team coaching staff under Ronny Deila, McGuinness’s influence waned to such an extent that he had effectively been frozen out under Rodgers.
His duties were confined solely to that of U-20s assistant as the Hoops romped to an historic domestic treble so perhaps McGuinness, set to begin his A Licence next month, knew there was very little chance of fulfilling his targets at Celtic while Rodgers was in power.
‘It’s a fantastic opportunity,’ McGuinness said of the new job, which he will start on Monday. ‘It’s a level up for me and a great honour to be asked. Roger is a really prestigious European coach and just to be part of his management team is a great privilege. I also feel that it’s great timing in terms of taking the next step forward in my own coaching career.
‘In terms of Celtic, every decision that was made was with their knowledge. Dermot Desmond, in particular, was implicit in any decision made. And I’d like to think that the umbilical cord won’t be cut. Everyone in the club has been hugely supportive and hopefully I will return there someday as a better coach.’
This is sink or swim for McGuiness now. No more talk of discovering his philosophy or finding himself as a coach. Just like he did with Donegal, he has to deliver results. It is the only way this move can have any shred of justification.