Celtic are on the hunt for their next manager following the sudden exit of Brendan Rodgers and the dramatic fallout that has followed.
Dermot Desmond, the club’s major shareholder, eviscerated the former Liverpool and Leicester City boss in a lengthy statement, accusing him of being “divisive, misleading, and self-serving”.
Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have been installed as the interim management team while the search for a permanent successor gets underway.
The next appointment will be absolutely critical for Celtic. The side currently sits eight points behind leaders Hearts in the Scottish Premiership table and cannot afford to lose any more ground.
O’Neill says he is just “warming the seat” for the next man, while Maloney insists he intends on returning to his backroom role when this stint is over. So we’ve had a look at who the real contenders for the vacancy are and the chances of them taking on the job.
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Ange Postecoglou
The halcyon days of Ange Postecoglou at Parkhead feel like a distant dream now. The Greek-Australian won five out of six trophies during his two-year spell at the club, all while playing sumptuous football.
But there may be lingering feeling of bad blood that could hold back a possible reunion. The fans may be able to forgive Big Ange for walking away to take the Spurs job in 2023, as they did with Rodgers, but the hierarchy are reportedly still not over it. They had hoped to tie him down to a new deal at the time, but he left them high and dry.
Postecoglou is available for work after lasting just 39 days at Nottingham Forest, but he might be better off taking a break rather than jump back into the frying pan again.
Kieran McKenna
The links with Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna have been increasing in the last few hours. He is evidently on their radar and matches the criteria that O’Neill laid out in his first press conference.
The Irishman said he believes Celtic are looking for a “young manager with proven ability who has got a bit of a track record”.
McKenna certainly has that in his short managerial career. The former Manchester United coach guided Ipswich to consecutive promotions to take them all the way to the Premier League in his first senior job. Following relegation, the club now find themselves 12th in the Championship table, just three points off the play-off spots.
It’s a highly ambitious target and would be a costly hire too. McKenna is contracted until 2028 and it would reportedly cost Celtic around £5m to prise him away.
Craig Bellamy
Another young manager, but one without much in the way of top level experience. After working in a number of coaching roles for Cardiff City, Anderlecht and Burnley, Craig Bellamy became Wales national team manager last year.
The former Liverpool striker has done a decent job thus far and has the side in contention for World Cup qualification heading into the final two group games.
Having won the Scottish Cup with Celtic as a player, Bellamy would be a relatively popular choice among the supporters, but it seems unlikely he would take on the role now when he could be potentially managing at a World Cup next summer.
Robbie Keane
Another former Celtic striker, Robbie Keane has enjoyed success as a manager by taking the unconventional route.
The 45-year-old led Maccabi Tel Aviv to Israeli Premier League success and the last-16 of the UEFA Conference League in his first season in charge. He left after one year with an impressive win rate of 73 per cent.
Keane went on to take the reins at famous Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros and guided them to a league title as well. They also reached the knockout phase of the Europa League.
Despite his links with the Bhoys, Keane’s appointment would not go down well with the fanbase given his past management of Maccabi. A huge proportion of match-going Celtic supporters are staunchly pro-Palestine.
It would be seen as yet more evidence of the hierarchy being out of touch with the fans.
Kjetil Knutsen
The outside-the-box candidate comes in the form of Kjetil Knutsen, who has been overseeing outstanding success at Bodo/Glimt in recent years.
The 57-year-old has led the small club from northern Norway to four league titles in five years and the semi-finals of the Europa League since taking charge in 2018, when they were newly promoted. This season they qualified for the league phase of the Champions League for the first time ever.
It begs the question: why would Knutsen take the Celtic job, particularly at a time of turmoil? Perhaps at the end of the current campaign it would make sense for him to consider it, but surely not now when Glimt are reaching ever greater heights.
There’s also the fact that Celtic fans don’t have fond memories of their previous Norwegian manager, Ronny Deila. Not that that should have any bearing on how successful Knutsen would be in the Parkhead dugout.
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