I have no doubt this morning’s press reports on Celtic’s plans for the months ahead are correct. We are told the club “is planning an overhaul of their football operations in the summer that would see significant changes to their set-up.” There is a great deal you can surmise from that statement.
“Overhaul… of football operations”, “significant changes”, leaves zero doubt Neil Lennon will be moving on and suggests wider changes are likely. It is also safe to assume Neil is on-board with this and has agreed to remain in charge until the end of the season, or a suitable replacement arrives.
Neil would not go through this torture were it not out of a sense of responsibility towards the players, several of whom he personally convinced to stay for this ‘important season’. Malicious talk of holding out for a payoff is well wide of the mark.
What is also clear is that Celtic are not happy to appoint any manager who is prepared to come to the club right now. This precludes those out of work, or those who are not prepared to ‘Do a Brendan’ and leave their current project with trophies still to be won and lost.
The new industry is not always as helpful. Last night reports that betting was suspended on Eddie Howe getting the job received plenty of clicks. Eddie has his eyes on a different target and will almost certainly pick up an English Premiership job this year. He is as likely to come to Celtic as another fantasy appointment, Mauricio Pochettino, was, before choosing Paris when he could have made his home in Glasgow. If only it was that easy.
If we take the ‘Get real’ suggestions off the table, I know the photo fit you are working with. Someone who has over-performed in a different environment, who is technically razor sharp and can bring knowledge of a value market.
They will have a successful track record, one that is short enough that they have not already moved up the food chain, but one longer than Ronny Deila’s mercurial rise at Stromsgodset. We now know that the skills required to achieve one season of spectacular success is Norway does not automatically equip a manager for what on paper looks an easier task. The Goldilocks candidate, enough of a spectacular record, but not too much that they have already got their move.
The quick fix if Neil leaves is John Kennedy as interim or someone, like Ronny, who cannot believe he’s been offered the Celtic job. Or let Neil complete the season and attempt to add the Scottish Cup and leave his second term trophy report reading 6 out of 8. I am not recommending either option, it’s too complicated to sit on the outside and suggest a fix with any conviction – not matter how convinced this is an easy one, it’s not.
If Neil remains until the end of the season it will not be because he needs the money, or because he deserves the respect of a Celtic hero (although he does), it is because the business of succession has to be settled. My preference would be to spend these months doing reconnaissance; better to do it right than to do it early, but the galleries have loved a blood letting since the Colosseum, we know how it works.
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SFTB
Condolences on your loss.
Logon. Log off. Login. Logout. Whatever.
SFTB
I’m very sorry to hear of your loss.
Take care yourself.
HH jg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlLJXYtRWg
We are all a bit angry – but it is Saturday night.
have to say Aston Villa have a bit of flair about them from midfield to up front
i remember we used to as well
ryan must have himself downas a 12 then
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYH5h-5Dz40
No matter how bad times are now – remember you are lucky to be part of something special – you were chosen
celtic40me
Just a quick reply. Combination of factors affected Jack Hendry at Celtic, never really played that often over the time he was there. Fact is Brendan saw something, I noticed him first back at Partick, he is good in the air, very mobile, can take the ball forward, and has since improved as a player since he left Celtic. Brendan has been gone for two years, no player has improved under Lenny in that time. Jack is playing at a good level in a good league, a better league with a good chance of playing in the Euros next summer. The idea that he could not make it at the present Celtic is laughable, nobody is making it at Celtic at the present time, everybody is regressing, except Jack Hendry, who is not at Celtic.
Celtic Mac on 23rd January 2021 9:57 pm
celtic40me
Just a quick reply. Combination of factors affected Jack Hendry at Celtic, never really played that often over the time he was there. Fact is Brendan saw something, I noticed him first back at Partick, he is good in the air, very mobile, can take the ball forward, and has since improved as a player since he left Celtic. Brendan has been gone for two years, no player has improved under Lenny in that time. Jack is playing at a good level in a good league, a better league with a good chance of playing in the Euros next summer. The idea that he could not make it at the present Celtic is laughable, nobody is making it at Celtic at the present time, everybody is regressing, except Jack Hendry, who is not at Celtic.
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Have the Celtic ‘support’ become more aggressive over the years? I always thought (Happy Clapper) that a supporter was someone who helped a player settle in or get through a crisis. Oh well, now it is all about click bait etc although I do remember how players like Dom Sullivan and Paul Wilson were unfairly picked on pre – Social media!
I love the conspiracy theory, but I also remember being taken very close by Aberdeen under RD.
And these stupid figures being thrown around about signings
Let remember, back in 2007 we paid £4.5 million for scott brown a midfielder and since then the market has skyrocketed.
This season we pay £5 million for a CF and he cant get a game and also consider this, our main target was valued at £10 million and his next sale will be well over £25 million. How much will our supper last day signing be worth?
Not a conspiracy, just a complete lack of ambition. Plain and simple.
9 years with free potential access to CL and during that spell we are shutting half the stadium. Instead we should be a permanent fixture.
It will be Roy Keane as the Irish connection will stay strong bank on it. No coincide he was only last week talking about getting back into management and I dont have a problem with that, as at least we know he won’t be dictated to by PL. I’m unsure what he will be like as a manager, but hay ho.
DD should have asked the question of PL when BR left , why did he leave ? One of the most successful managers in Celtic history and he only does 2.5 seasons. Did they carry out an exit interview, I would love to read that.
N&V
Pitymevin
DD knew BR was on notice from the moment
The chinese offer was made known to him.he does so in an interview with The Athletic.its online.was posted here recently.
HH
If Ryan goes,good luck
Thanks for your contribution to our club.
He wore the hoops.imagine bein able to say that.:-) He is a footballer.
HH
scullybhoy
Good question. We all have favourites of course, and we can all find faults, too many of us, including me, are finding faults, even with our own favourites. Are we less welcoming, hard to say given that we cannot attend, for instance, I saw Frimpong on his debut, last season, excited the whole crowd, now getting criticised from the sidelines. No player will improve without support, but many players have improved at Celtic over the years in part because of the support they have been given, Henrik Larrson a case in point. Van Dyke too. Paul Wilson is a good example, Tommy Callaghan another, some of us saw him as a modern player, others groaned every time he got on the ball, plus ca change. For what it is worth I believe Jack Hendry will play at a higher lever than he is at now, if he keeps improving.
AN
I always ask myself why when that article came up, dont you?
I have stated before BR is a brand and BR was taken care of BR it’s a job.
So ok, but what’s your stance on the rest of the post.
Being run close by Aberdeen. Lack of ambition in the transfer market and leaving everything to the last minute.
As previously stated.
The state of the pitch is unacceptable and BR brought that up on many occasions, 2 years later and its god awful again. Just one example of the regression.
The buck stops with PL, he appointed NL but with no backroom staff and if lenny is in charge of the grounds men, then PL should be holding NL to account. No
A shocking state of affairs, but its never the boards fault.
Ryan Christie in the Premiership, can’t wait for a laugh, watching the headless chicken
Remember the first 5,000 season tickets will fund out illustrious CEO’s annual resume ration package ( salary, bonus, LTIP, Restricted shares). Dermot might even pitch in with a wee Sandy Lane jaunt if the dividend doesn’t disappear.
Can’t wait to see which turkey is appointed and is gone before Christmas; Desmond and Lawwell have zero vision or ambition for Celtic.
Apparently my comments are awaiting moderation – anyone any idea why?
So as I had a few hours to spare today, I thought I’d look at potential managers from other leagues in Europe. Obviously I had looked at Belgium and Clemente was my pick of the bunch from there, so I looked at a few other leagues outside the “big 5” – Turkey, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland and Holland. I didn’t find anyone I think is as good a fit right now as Clemente, but a couple who might “do”, a couple we missed the boat on (at least for now) and a couple to keep an eye on.
SWITZERLAND:
Gerardo Seoane – Youngs Boys (Swiss Super League):
less impressive than Clemente who built two title winning sides, Seoane took over Young Boys in 2018 following Adi Hutter’s success in taking them to a first title in a while.
He has since led them to two titles and is 9 points clear this season to put him on course for 3 in a row. And he improved on Hutter’s win – they got 84 points in season 2017-18 (average of 2.33 per game) compared to 91 in 2018-19 (2.5 per game) but dropped back to 76 in a COVID impacted 2019-20 (average of 2.1 per game). After 14 games this season he has 31 points (2.2 per game).
He’a made around £8m profit on transfers in his time – typically spends around £5m and brings in £13m per year, so Lawell would love him!!! While I said above that he didn’t create title winning sides, that’s probably unfair – his player turnover each year has been pretty high and he’s lost his better players each year.
Report on his tactical approach is here: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/gerardo-seoane-young-boys-berns-tactical-approach-tactical-analysis-tactics
Verdict – less attractive than Clemente but think would do ok! The Celtic job now would be his hardest challenge though!
No-one else in Switzerland really stands out – Sforza (who was a lovely player back in the day) has only this year taken over Basel.
AUSTRIA:
I’ve ignored Jesse Marsh at RB Salzburg as he’s apparently earmarked for the RB Leipzig job.
The only other obvious candidates were Didi Kuhbauer of Rapid Vienna and Christian Ilzer of Saturn Graz.
Ilzer looks like he has promise, but he’s only in his second full year of coaching at a decent level. He was with Austria Vienna last year and was uninspiring before moving to Sturm Graz this year where he seems to have made a good impact. Too early to tell though.
Didi Kuhbauer was previously coach of Wolfsberger and did ok with them – they were mid-table when he arrived, mid-table when he was there, and mid-table now.
He took over at Rapid Vienna two and a bit years ago. A dodgy first season was followed last year by a creditable second place. He’s currently 2 points clear at the top this year, though RBS have a game in hand.
He’s spent around £6m in his time there and brought in around £18m (including selling us Bolingoli), and seems to focus more on improving players than buying.
Tactical report here: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/head-coach-analysis/dietmar-kuhbauer-rapid-wien-2019-20-tactical-analysis-tactics
Verdict – keep an eye on Ilzer. Kuhbauer may be a safe choice but probably unspectacular.
TURKEY:
Managerial change is big in Turkey so difficult to work out who could come and do a job. The clear choice here was Okan Burik of Istanbul Basaksehir. He’s in his second season with them, having won the league last season – thier first ever. Before that he spent a year with Caykur Rizespor and the year before was with Akhisarspor where he won’t the cup.
The down side is that his team have yanked this year – sitting around 20 points behind the leaders (sound familiar?). Much of the ground work behind IB’s rise was put in place by Avci (his predecessor) so it looks like Okan just took them over the line.
Tactical analysis available here: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/istanbul-basaksehir-offensive-style-play-okan-buruk-tactical-analysis-tactics and here: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/head-coach-analysis/okan-buruk-istanbul-basaksehir-201920-tactical-analysis-tactics
Verdict: probably a non-starter for me. Hasn’t enough of a track record of building a team and, if he does well and recovers, he’ll end up at one of the Big 3 in Turkey!
PORTUGAL:
Standout option is Amorim currently at Sporting. Early in his career but won the cup at Braga and now has Sporting at the top of the league. He has a £20m buy out clause though, so a complete non-starter.
The other candidate that stood out was Pepa at Pacos de Ferreira. He took over last season when they were rock bottom and kept them up. He currently has them in 5th place.
No tactical report so here’s some highlights from their recent win over Braga: https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.sportsmole.co.uk/football/game-highlights/pacos-de-ferreira-vs-braga_game_17048144_sv.html
Verdict: One to keep an eye on but I expect if he does well this season he’ll end up at Benfica or Porto.
HOLLAND:
The standout candidate is Arne Slot, formerly of AZ Alkmar, who took his side to joint first with Ajax last season. However he’s now been signed up by Feyenoord to take over in summer. Tactical analysis here: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/arne-slot-201920-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics
Celtic Mac on 23rd January 2021 10:33 pm
scullybhoy
Good question. We all have favourites of course, and we can all find faults, too many of us, including me, are finding faults, even with our own favourites. Are we less welcoming, hard to say given that we cannot attend, for instance, I saw Frimpong on his debut, last season, excited the whole crowd, now getting criticised from the sidelines. No player will improve without support, but many players have improved at Celtic over the years in part because of the support they have been given, Henrik Larrson a case in point. Van Dyke too. Paul Wilson is a good example, Tommy Callaghan another, some of us saw him as a modern player, others groaned every time he got on the ball, plus ca change. For what it is worth I believe Jack Hendry will play at a higher lever than he is at now, if he keeps improving.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Yet you have this……………………
st tams on 23rd January 2021 10:47 pm
Ryan Christie in the Premiership, can’t wait for a laugh, watching the headless chicken
Dom Sullivan I think also got a hard time as did Ronnie Glavin and Joe Craig?????
Guissepe Conlon rip on this day
https://stairnaheireann.net/2021/01/23/otd-in-1980-guiseppe-conlon-dies-an-innocent-man-in-an-english-prison-3/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
ST TAMS I think your name should be Victoria Drives
It’s Drive.
Not allowed an opinion
ST TAMS on 23RD JANUARY 2021 10:47 PM
Ryan Christie in the Premiership, can’t wait for a laugh, watching the headless chicken
——————-
you dont like posts about the history of celtic, or celtic supporters, or life in general, becaue you live in the here and now,
and yet.
you look forward to a celtic player, from a celtic family, being a headless chicken in the english leagues.
He would be no loss to our team, imo
SFTB! Sorry 😞 for you’re loss my friend
One of the highest paid CEO’ s in uk football and in his tenure we had to shut half the stadium. Stealing a wage and riding the Bisto train Celtic all the way. Mmmmmm
I honestly believe that we only make progress when DD has to pay attention.
Spidey, no chance of any of them, they are not Irish and if its PL that has to hire the next guy it will be jack ross. He will tick all the boxes.
* cheap
* close
* Wont have to really do any research like your good self.
The overhaul of the football department means the business side is left alone and what do you think that means.
Until PL goes we will continue to walk into the dark, blindfolded and stifled.
SPIDEY101
Very informative
and i am sure many “our supporters” would be no loss to the blog
PITYMEVIN
Very sensible post.
You will be called a hun shortly
Dom Sullivan I think also got a hard time as did Ronnie Glavin and Joe Craig?????
—
ohhhh
we had the ronnie glavin story on here a few weeks ago
but he got found not guilty in her majesty’s court of law
so, in an unrelated story, are there any fire engines near calderwood square in east kilbride just now?
If you played for Celtic – I support you and wish you well.
PITYMEVIN on 23RD JANUARY 2021 11:23 PM
great post,
very unhun like
-)))
Good night all
SFTB
Condolences for your loss.
St tams, I apologise for last night’s comment. If you didn’t make that statement.
But to the people that have, I stand by my comment.
By the way I agree with you on RC.
If he was in the school team you wouldn’t pass him the ball.