I WAS thinking of rattling out an application to Celtic to let them know I will be available if they are looking for a new manager in the future.
I have just discovered I already have one of the main credentials for the job and that is the fact I have been a fan all of my life.
Plus I would have loved to have played for them, too, but was hampered somewhat by my chronic lack of footballing ability.
Still, I could always dream.
Me and several million others.
I live in hope, though, because I have learned today – via the website Football365 – “the calibre of CV required for a manager to land the Celtic job is not what it once was.”
HANDS UP IF YOU’RE HAPPY…Brendan Rodgers celebrates Celtic’s title triumph at Kilmarnock in May.
That’s probably surprising news for Brendan Rodgers who had been labouring under the guise of ‘elite manager’ when Dermot Desmond made his move for him in June last year following the vamoosing of Ange Postecoglou across the border to Spurs.
So, while you absorb that disturbing news about the dramatic fall in standards of one of the world’s greatest sporting institutions, dear reader, here’s another one to tackle.
How about Wayne Rooney taking over at Parkhead if he gets the sack at Plymouth Argyle?
That’s the same Wayne Rooney who got fired at Birmingham City at the turn of the year after only 15 games in charge. Admittedly, he lost nine of those matches.
Now, according to reports, he is just two losses away from the axe at second-tier Argyle who are hovering four points above rock-bottom Portsmouth.
Rooney was a first-class player in his prime and fits the legendary status which is so readily bestowed upon individuals these days. You have to applaud his prolific performances as a teenager at Everton that led him to Manchester United and the England international team.
There is no disputing he was an extraordinary talent and only 10 strikes short of 300 goals in his club and country career will bring you a fair amount of kudos.
That winning capacity, unfortunately for an apparently likeable individual, has not followed him into the dug-out.
However, I have been informed that not only does a fairly uninspiring CV not rule you out from the main job at the Scottish champions, but the name Wayne Rooney “would stand him in good stead.”
FOOTBALL HEAVYWEIGHT…Wayne Rooney celebrates scoring a goal against Celtic in a charity game at Old Trafford in September. Stiliyan Petrov can’t bear to look.
And the Old Trafford icon did once reveal: “Celtic have always been a team I have followed and always wanted them to win. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity [to play for them].”
There would have been a time when that quote would have been blasted all over the front pages of every national newspaper.
Rooney, now 39, left United in 2017. Seven years is a lifetime in football and in the parlance of the beautiful game “his future was behind him” when he walked through those doors for the last time.
By the way, it is heartening to note that Celtic are not alone in being mentioned as a possible destination for Rooney – if, of course, he is jettisoned by Argyle.
The team that have genuine hopes of competing among the Champions League aristocracy next year have been lumped in with Wrexham and Salford City.
