Its Europa League week and we have a game in Milan on Thursday.
A lot of minds however are now focusing on Friday as they believe that’s when big news could come in respect to Celtics Management set up moving forward.
In light of that, I thought I would take a quick look at the runners and riders in the race:
Now, first of all, there are 2 omissions on possible Celtic Manager odds from Oddschecker, these are: Neil Lennon and John Kennedy.
Lets include them before looking at others listed.
Neil Lennon:
Pros: Won Leagues and Cups and loves the Club. Has shown he can turn around a season from a losing position with Celtic.
Cons: Openly admits his old ways of man management are out of date. Appears to be a man adrift and no-one can be heard clamouring for him to be given more time.
Odds: Etims Bookies 8/1 – Its hard to see how Lenny could stay on unless its purely as a scapegoat/blocker between the fans and the Board. The Team seem bereft and the Manager seems out of ideas.
John Kennedy
Pros: A highly rated young coach ( see Brendan Rodgers & Damien Duff) with a Long association with the Club who apparently rejected Rodgers offer of a role at Leicester.
Cons: Never managed a First team and allegations of Lawwells poodle in the dug-out wont go away. The sentimental aspect of his career finishing early may now be dragging both parties down as questions continue about our poor defence and Kennedys contribution.
Odds: Etims Bookies 5/1 – There may be a chance Kennedy could get the gig, at least until the summer, it depends on how brave Peter Lawwell is feeling. The Celtic fans would soon show their displeasure should Kennedy take over and fail to improve the current issues on the pitch. Would Lawwell dare risk an empty tier next season by taking a punt on a young newbie?…we all know how that worked out with his Deila plan!
Okay, that’s the incumbents…lets look at Oddschecker ( other odds site are available, this just came up first in Google) and who they are citing:
Gordon Strachan – 6/4
Pros: Been there, seen it, done it. You read that in a Gordon Strachan voice didnt you? The wee man knows the club, knows some of the players and knows the boy with the laptop called Gavin. Won the League and knows whats expected. Would be open to a short term gig to get the club through to the Summer.
Cons: Fans still grumble about how dull the football was. Appointing WGS would hardly quell the flames of anger in many fans hearts and should he start his wee cheeky soundbites and retorts, that could send quite a few over the edge.
Eddie Howe – 5/2
Pros: The former Bournemouth Manager left his club after recent relegation and is available. Did well to keep The Cherries up in the EPL for 5 years after winning the Championship and at 43 years of age is young and fresh. Also the first manager to take a pay cut after Covid kicked in so seems a decent sort of fella too!
Cons: That “personal reasons” departure at Burnley still has many wondering why many big clubs didnt try and get him when doing well at Bournemouth. Does fighting relegation or winning promotion in lower leagues give you the experience needed to be a Manager of Celtic looking to win the 10?
Henrik Larsson – 6/1
Pros: The man, the legend. If you wanted one appointment to get fans back on-side then Lawwell could fill the stadium if Henrik was to turn up at Parkhead. Maybe he could bring Jordan with him to play up front too.
Cons: Not the greatest management CV. Also just went to Barcelona as striker coach under Ronald Koeman so even though it seems a nice idea, its more 66/1 than bookies trying to make it a 6/1 chance in my book
Roy Keane – 6/1
Pros: Football great and a man that knows the club. Keane is a no nonsense man who says it how it is and could quickly deal with any stroppy players. Strong willed enough to make demands and see they are met. Already walked away from the job once when Lawwell told him Deila was his assistant.
Cons: See Lawwell and Deila above. Lawwell much more powerful/paranoid now it appears so doubtful he would look to appoint the fiery no-nonsense Irishman to come between him and Dermot. Keane also has limited managerial experience and playing number 2 to MON may not be enough to win over fans.
Steve Clarke – 9/1
Pros: Many folk fancied the current Scotland and ex Killie manager before Lennon was given the role full time. A good coach who can inspire and get players playing to their maximum potential and can get tactics right more often than not. May have a fine disdain for Rangers too
Cons: The Euros mean theres no chance Clarke will leave the Scotland role before next Summers tourney is over. He might be in place by next season starting but by then it could be Celtic and Rangers fighting for his services.
Michael O’Neill – 10/1
Pros: A highly experienced football man who likes the club and knows the league. ONeill did well when managing Northern Ireland to Euro Championships in recent past. Can rally struggling players to excel and soon saved Stoke from relegation when appointed.
Cons: Would cost money and unlikely Peter Lawwell would be looking at making compensation payments.
Rafa Benitez – 10/1
Pros: The mans Tier 1 Manager Level. Knows how to make a winning team and has proven he knows how to win trophies.
Cons: His last contract was rumoured to be £12m..tax free in China. That THUD sound was either Peter Lawwell fainting or Dermot just slammed his cheque book on the desk…we know which one is more likely.
Other possible names in frame…
Mauricio Pochettino – Sits awaiting that Man United call but OGS keeps pulling that one result out the fire. Go get him Peter..hang the expense!
Roger Schmidt – Likes the High Press and only staying a few years. Available after China spell following time at Salzburg and Leverkusen.
Ralf Ragnick – Football Guru but doesnt like the idea of rescuing failing sides or giving up football power so doubtful could work with Lawwell
Lauren Blanc – Frenchman is available and could get us defending and knows the game having won 4 Legue 1 titles as a Manager.
David Wagner – German football pal of Jürgen Klopp who got Huddersfield promoted to EPL but then relegated and lost his role at Schalke
Malky Mackay – recently left Scotland Performance gig so renowned bigot “joker” is available but surely unpalatable to most Celtic fans.
Martin ONeill – talk of resurrecting the partnership with Keane. Possible but has his time in football been and gone, even beyond a 6 month stop gap role?
Alex McLeish – Won the League, knows the game and regardless of history, would bite Lawwells hand off to get back into football.
Craig Levein – Well some Celtic fans are having trouble sleeping at present, problem solved!
Wim Jansen – Been there, seen it, done it. 74 now but at least he doesnt have Jock Brown to contend with!
Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis, Mark Hughes – Awaiting next big Cheque…Peter isnt answering the phone.
Stuart Baxter – Sadly just signed a 2 year deal with Odisha in India. Damn!
Peter Lawwell – Fuck it, why change anything!
Any suggestions folks?
I am telling youse all right now. I will be fizzing if we do not get Mauricio Pochettino.
Desmond, Lawwell and Co. you can go and fuck your fizzing. Pricks.
What about a dream team of fat Sally and Sutton ? The banter would be top class ( not ) , the media wouldn’t know what to do , back fatty or slag sutty…sorry did I say dream team I meant another nightmare …
I like lots of potential managers, but prefer someone young who has plenty of ambition, the one who comes to mind is ‘Jack Ross’ the current Hibs manager. Brendan Rodgers rated him as a friend and as a student of the game. Lewis Morgan who was at Saint Mirren said; Jack Ross is as good a manager as Brendan Rodgers. Ross studied the game and has a good aura about him. Some of the candidates above are unrealistic, they would never come. I’m concerned about Michael O’Neil and my first choice if possible would be Wim Jansen, but think that he too would not come back.
My outside choice would be the Sparta manager whose players played as a team and he could alter the game during game time. I liked the style off their play and would love to see that replicated at Celtic.
Oh Jack Ross is a real possibility, maybe for the Summer.
Would hate giving Hibs compensation though and knowing Hibs/SFA they would somehow have us owing them millions
what makes you guys think he has the credentials?
Peter Lawwell phoned me and told me he was a shoe-in, plus he would be cheap. You can tell he’s of Italian stock, tall dark and handsome. A defender and midfielder in his playing days AND Brendan Rodgers rates him. The two clubs he has managed, the players also rate him. Lets be honest, no first tier manager would come to Celtic and no second tier would work under Lawwell while he dictates which players come in and who leaves. So Jack Ross is rated and has ambition. A previous Celtic manager someone called Stein came to Celtic from Hibs (forget the last one). Big Billy and Ten Thirty too managed Hibs. I rest my case your honour.
Haha that’ll teach me
Ha! Just read in the paper that the odds on Jack Ross and Dan Petrescu have shortened but although WGS is loving his job at Dundee he is the favourite with two bookies.
Are you simply airbrushing his failed stint at Sunderland out of the equation?
Probably more applicable given the pressures of a ‘big’ club and he didn’t seem to cope.
Also Stubbs, Collins and plenty of others were successes as Hibs managers but no way would you want them anywhere near.
50 years ago the likes of Hibs and St Mirren might have been stepping stones for potential Celtic managers but surely given the wide gulf in size today, any such candidate would need to go on and do something on a far bigger stage.
If you look at the career path of any football manager you will find something hiding in the shadows, its a ‘pick and mix’ and not one could guarantee success, especially if someone else has an influence on players coming in or out. So, what do you look for? the choice between youthful ambition, someone keen to learn, or, an older experienced head, been there done it, looking for a fat cheque. Play safe with WGS or after careful due diligence take a chance on an up and coming manager. I always try to look forward, most of the above would never come to Celtic, so the choice is few. Ross knows the SPFL. No matter who I chose, someone will say ‘oh no, no him’. I also liked the Sparta coach, I would be very happy if he came in, but the man from Delmonte he say..
Reply moderated, must have reached my pish stained limit, ta ta the noo!
No problems, I’ll catch up with it later.
My concern is that football is a fast evolving industry and we keep looking backwards.
Still a ‘well run club’ though, Cha …
Alex McLeish??? Trolling of the highest order Desi.
No one expected Wee Gordon Strachan back in the day..
Wouldn’t work, especially as everyone has to social distance just now.Could you imagine all the players sitting huddled in a corner in the dressing room as he makes his out of the corner of his mouth team talk.
Steve Evans. Bring him home
No one expected the Spanish Inquisition either.
Thanks for not mentioning these ones and handing me the limelight Desi.
1/11 Scott Brown. It’s 2010 all over again and Celtic look to address a terrible run of form by appointing a conveniently cheap, fan’s favourite who Parsimonious Pete knows will never rattle his cage.
1000/1 Donald Trump. OK he’s nuts and orange but his obsession with sending his enemies to jail must count for something. Also a massive wall just outside the 6 yard box would be splendid.
Nicola Sturgeon 5000/1. This millennia’s finest politician is a designer shoe in, however a wee nippy ginger appearing in a tracksuit with the same hair cut as Gavin’s dad in the 80s may cause him to drop his laptop in gender realignment confusion. Expect a veto from Parsimonious Pete.
10000/1 Prof Jason Leitch. Well we’re sick of Lenny’s press conferences too…
100000/1 An ETimmers coalition. With Duncan giving 4 hour halftime team talks and Monti kicking the scheide out of Leigh Griffiths in the car park this is a real outsider, however with resident guru PortPower Shankar’s mantras and more expeltives than a Tourettes coach trip to the Kingdom of Potty Mouth expect Parsimonious Pete to get his comeuppance. An each way consideration.
Puggy67,
I am the remover of darkness.
Now, I am away to find a bulb so I can get back to my yoga.
Desmond and Peter have taken the enlightenment from our Celtic Souls.
I’ll go for the Reverse Petit Merde with added half-pike (they don’t like it up’em, Captain Mainwaring!) and go for Michael Beale at 1000/1.
A. You don’t really think Slippy coaches them, do you?
B. Discombobulatiion of the highest degree as we get to see a vast improvement in our play and corresponding plummeting of performance at the Crumbledome as Slippy and McAllister take over.
C. Payback to the 33rd Degree.
D. (Most important) Cheap as chips, relatively. Leaving more dosh to distribute to shareholders.
Malky McKay might be a bit of a c*nt but he can manage a team. Right now I’d take him over the current incumbent without a moment’s hesitation.
I’d even take the wee Spanish geezer that manages the ladies team over this shower.
Right now I’d even vote for my daughter’s PE teacher. Or frankly, I’d even ne happy with her Maths teacher!
Hahahaha, you’ve got to have a laugh.
It’s Jack Ross. Hibs, as usual, wanting more and more. That’s the reason Neil is staying, not the excuse of “The Mob”
Good writing Desi. Thanks. Of those mentioned, MON (without Keane) would be my first choice. I think Jack Ross could do a helluva good job with our club because he knows our league and the competition. I have lost all confidence in Lenny. He has lost his mojo completely and has probably lost the dressing room. I also think he has lost the respect of the players and that is endgame in football management. Buying players we never use must also feed the bad vibe at the club .Lenny can’t afford to drop any more points in the league but if we can’t beat Ross County I can’t see that happening. It’s a shame that our dream 10 in a row has become such a shambles. I think this season has gone the way it has because our billionaire owner wouldn’t shell out for Fraser Forster and then let our second choice goalkeeper leave (forced him out?) Forster could have been financed by all the dud players we have bought for millions but haven’t played. Soro/Bayo/Turnbull etc.
Forster was a very strange one. It appeared he wanted back to Southampton as had apparently been told he had a chance. That soon vanished when Ralph remembered Forster cant pass the ball with his feet and has anyone even seen him since the season started?
What a waste but if he left to seek Southampton game time, fair enough and we move on, apparently we gave him all the time possible to decide. The fact we ended paying £5m for Barkas and letting Gordon go for the sake of a few 000s a week seems very strange given the Greek has show nothing yet to inspire confidence.
Hes not done anything majorly wrong, just did nothing. Even Gordon could pull off a great save now and again. Barkas seems like Duffy, possibly a good player but just in the wrong team.
As for all the dud signings, utterly mental and worse of all it must be galling for the weans to watch their own careers go down the swannee as duds fill up the bench.
On the dud signings , add in Shane Duffy getting baited and revealing Celtic paid £2m for him plus his full £45-50000 a week wages.
Would imagine a few of our ‘ starters’ and their agent’s must have found that interesting !
I would like a return on the money I placed on the arrogant cunts PL & DD being run out of Parkhead never to be seen again (in DDs case who would notice). How dare they use their media Muppets to call us out over a ‘sense of entitlement’ as if we all had a knee jerk reaction to Sunday’s catastrophic farce. What they are essentially saying is they would have replaced Lenny by now but will not now do so out of sheer spite because some wee fandans booted a fence?
Give us back our club you fucking roasters! The downhill path you have led us down over the last 18 months is showing no signs of halting and the crash at the bottom ain’t gonna be pretty.
Martin fi the Leith bus
If Lenny stays, here is what he must do. Decide who is our best goalie and stick with him. Try get Forster back in January. A back four of Elhamed/Ajer/Jullien/Taylor
a four man midfield of: Frimpong/Christie/McGregor/Laxalt
two up front which must always include Griffiths.
Griffiths, if uninjured, is our best striker at the moment. We must also find out what Dembele, Soro, Turnbull, etc can do and use them, raising both morale and confidence. We must do all we can to undermine Sevco, both on and off the pitch. Put all our energy into the league. Since no treble is possible, then the Scottish Cup is also not our priority. Our two remaining Europa League matches must feature Soro, Turnbull, Dembele (if eligible) and our less used players to blood them and let them taste some competition. We must call out the MIBs every time they cheat and we must challenge them on the number of penalties given against us and why they award so many to Sevco. We must now fight and snarl as did our Celtic heroes of the past. It’s called “SMEDDUM” If the team out of Ibrox is to stop our 10, we must make them earn that. They will have their own Covid crisis in the weeks, months to come and will also hit a low point. We must keep near them and then overtake them when that happens. When they soon drop points on a cold winter night away to whoever, then they will feel what we are feeling now. Lenny, I challenge you to lift this team and get them playing as we know they can. Make me eat humble pie. Make many thousands of us eat humble pie. !0 in a row is still possible, weak but possible. We could play our new rivals 3 times yet. We can win all three, playing as we can play, not as we are playing now. Our fans who believe in prayer must get praying.
I also forget that we will get both Forrest and Mikey Johnston back soon enough. We have missed those guys greatly.
we could put messi into that team under the manager and we would still finish 30 points behind
Yep, there’s no solution that involves Lennon staying and every day it’s delayed the harder and prolonged the recovery will be.
I think Lawwell must be dangling toasted crumpets and enticing invites back in the Big Hoose over Etims, given Desi, Hector & Monty’s continued defence of the indefensible.
That leaves Ralph as the one sane and rational voice of the righteous and if the others are happy with that then fair do’s.
LMG!
The podcasts tend to lean towards Lennon mainly because there is no one else at this juncture. I’m for him pot the door but I can’t see an instant solution and I’d guess neither can the board. It’s a business to them because they’re business men nothing more. If it means losing the league so fucking what. They’ve already got Lenny on the Xmas video and the adidas sponsorship is more important than the 10
You lost me at ‘If Lenny stays’, Devoy.
Big Don I should have said” Lenny seems to be staying”…of course he should have gone by now but I’m afraid we’re stuck with him…
Back to the beach you go
Has he gone yet?
Could the expenditure of the Dubai get-away not go to better use?
It’s probably the week that the Relaxation Suite is being installed at Lennoxtown.
I, for one, can’t wait to see our defenders being more relaxed.
Well said, Port, but from what I’ve heard there’s a reason they go to Dubai and it’s not a good one but it involves that snake Lawwell again.
BDG,
Sheik Maeboaby photo ops?
Peter just loves that Sheik, Port 😉
Aye pay the current buns trip instead.
has it been cold in your loft?
Argel Fucks is my top pick. He’s as qualified as anyone on your list and his wife is called Titiana Fucks. What could go wrong?
Would Titiana play the Director of Football role or would the Fucks prefer to get Scheidt in?
Imagine the comments approval section of Fucks did get hired.
Fairly general reaction to this evening’s statement from Lawwell.
Pure corporate PR pish.
Totally detached from the support.
They won’t listen. The AGM on the 14th is a farce.
God bless everyone of them who turned up on Sunday afternoon.
Ha ha.
When I saw “Statement from Lawwell” I didn’t look any further, as there’s probably a bullshit generator that churns out this rubbish.
One thing’s for sure, no one who organises piss-ups in breweries has any fear of their jobs from him.
Pochettino or Benitez.
Thats all there is now MON has shown his ability to do the scumbag MSM’s lickspittle job for them.
Fvck, now I’ve written that …
It’s the Pochettino or Benitez of the next decade we should be targeted.
Young, up and coming, who see the attraction of competing in the CL and polish a CV before heading to the ‘big’ teams.
Mid-level teams, Leipzig, Salzburg etc invest in this area and it pays off down the line.
They know they can’t compete against the likes of Bayern in a head to head, so need to get in ahead of them for the young ones.
Why wait until tomorrow, ’cause tomorrow sometimes never comes
I get your point, Cha, but Pochettino is only 48.
Who are these ‘up & comers’ that you mention?
I’d have signed Petrescu months ago but that would have been an admission of failure from Lawwell.
If you know of any good young managers who would suit the Celtic job that would be appreciated as I’m fed up with the whole shite and it looks like the young team have finally caught up with me.
I’ve only been telling them since 2018 that things aren’t what they seem at Celtic Park but they hung on, being the good Tims that they are, but they’ve learned a few things since that even I didn’t want to believe but which Dermot, in his wisdom, has just stupidly proved to them and to all of us,
That they’re being taken for mugs whose opinions mean nothing, only their money.
It’s emotional blackmail but at least they know now, thanks to the stubborn billionaire at Celtic Park and a few observations fae their auld Da.
Poch will be holding out for an ‘elite’ club so won’t come to us today. We maybe had a chance before he went to Spain or Southampton.
The simple answer is I don’t know but all well run clubs come up with top quality replacements no problem.
That’s the issue, that there are suitable replacements out there but you need a proper infrastructure setup to identify and keep tabs on them.
A £100m club should be able to do that but we fail totally.
That IS the issue indeed, Cha …
Benfica, for example, run on a fraction of our turnover but still turn us over like mugs.
If you look at the accounts of numerous clubs across Europe you’ll see the same thing.
Yet these clubs have serious European ambitions, and the balls to follow through, when Celtic don’t?
Wheres all the fvckin money going?
By the way, Cha, we ARE a big team.
We’re one of the biggest teams in Europe, have been since 67.
And it’s only our penny pinching, Hun reliant, boards that have stopped us fae fulfilling our full potential.
Dont let any cvnt tell you otherwise.
PL is simply too damn pig headed and arrogant to admit he made a major balls of it by appointing Lenny on a permanent basis. Now he has the brass neck to ask for unity when that’s all the support, despite I’d guess a majority not being in agreement with Lenny’s appointment, have given over the last 18 months including dishing out for games we can’t even attend. How detached from reality is he if he genuinely believes Lenny can turn thing around.
FFS, things are so depressing and desperate I found myself agreeing with Charlie Nick this morning.
Tell you what Parsimonious Pete does well, a human shield for Desmond. Phil’s back up his rectum again but the sooner he hands over to a new investor/s the better.
So you thought you’d come back to heat us all up, did you, Duncan?
Or did ye jist get fed up trying tae find yer boaby?
My name isn’t gazpacho, dummy.
You’d do well to learn that.
For yer ain sake.
I’m no very good wae computers or this IT shit but the young yins are.
Im always a bit amazed at the stuff they can find that I thought was automatically hidden.
The maist surpassing to them is when some
See? 😀
As I was saying, the maist surprising to the young team is how some clowns leave their footprint all over cyberspace, even going so far as to practically give out their home address.
I think we’d all agree that that’s one of the stupidest things that anybody could dae at any time.
Especially when they’ve forgot to cover their router, even if we can bypass that anyway.