Celtic Diary Sunday May 25: This is what a manager looks like.

Still no sign of a new manager, or a clear favourite. But the powers that be are dropping a few hints…

Peter Lawwell said on Friday;

“We’ll pull together a list of candidates, discuss it with the board and see if we can find a new manager. We’re very, very early but we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve got anything.” 

We’ve seen the list.

1: Owen coyle

2: Mark McGhee

3: That bloke with the glasses who looks like Martin O’ Neill

4: Put an advert in the paper.

What we also have seen is the list provided by chief scout John Park.

1: John Park

None of it matters though, because quite simply Dermot Desmond will choose someone who has that ” look in his eye” where Celtic is concerned, and that frankly means that if Henrik Larsson doesn’t want the job, he’ll ask Roy Keane. and if he decides against working for minimum wage, then Owen Coyle it is.

Despite Murdo MacLeod touting Larsson for the job, presumably in the hope he’ll need an experienced, if talentless, no.2

“I’m still in touch with Henrik and I disagree with anyone who says he does not have enough experience because Neil Lennon came in without any at all,” said Macleod, speaking at the Footgolf Open event at Cowal Gold Club. “He would be 100% up for it and when you have a coach who wants to come back to the club that is a good thing to have.

Er, Lennon worked with Strachan and Mowbray. As a coach. Not really coming in ” without any at all “

“That [the contract situation] is a big one, but if Celtic want him just go and get him. Look after the club in Sweden. If it takes a transfer fee, pay it.”

I think its more a case that Larsson wants to honour his contract. He’s known for that sort of thing.

Where Keane is concerned, theres a clue in what Martin O’ Neill says about his assistant;

‘I would say that he would make a good manager, I have always said this about Roy Keane. I think the experiences he has had at Sunderland and Ipswich will stand him in good stead.
‘He has this opportunity to come with me as my assistant here at this moment, but I have often said to you that he will be a manager.’

Maybe, having been brought in himself at the last minute by Desmond to take over at Celtic, he knows a bit more about how things work in the east end of Glasgow than most…

What has Johann Mjallby done to upset them ? Now that the dust has settled from Lennons departure, and cool heads are discussing the next step, Mjallby would have been the obvious choice, but he’s gone already, which means he knew he was never going to get the job, especially if Lawwells telling the truth when he said that Lennons departure wasn’t a surprise.

Lennons departure wasn’t a surprise, it was a surprise that he quit over something as relatively trivial as a wee bit of help with the coaching, bearing in mind McGrain is off work for a while, and Mjallby had left.

Perhaps he was just fed up. We’ve all had that banging our head against the wall feeling, and maybe he just ran out of paracetamol.

Not only could it be argued that the influence of Lawwell and John Park was restrictive, but he had to contend with a lot off the field as well. Kevin McKenna in the Observer sums it all up, and asks a few difficult questions.

Unfortunately, these questions are being asked a little late-although McKenna has asked them before- and noone took him up on it then, so theres no reason why they will now.

For all that, his article is the best piece written about the Lennon years, and if you haven’t read it yet, do it now;

McKenna article on Lennon

But he’s gone now, and we still have to find his successor.

If Desmond is looking for that special look in someones eyes, then Owen Coyle has just taken his sunglasses off;

” Glasgow Celtic are a global club,

Er, its not Glasgow Celtic, its just Celtic.

there’s no doubt about that – and of course it’s a marvellous job,”

Not as good as Burnley, but marvellous all the same.

“Like anything else, the bookies’ (odds) change very quickly. I don’t think I was the favourite yesterday.

I don’t think you are the favourite either.

“I think people put two and two together.

“The bottom line is that it is well-documented that Celtic are my team and that will never ever change.”

Unless I already have a job..

“Regardless of people’s perceptions, Glasgow Celtic is a huge job, it’s an elite club,” he said.

His own perception included, presumably. 

“If you go anywhere in the world, Glasgow Celtic are known, their jerseys are there.

For fucks sake, its Celtic, just Celtic. Your other club wasn’t called Burnley Burnley, was it ?

“Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond, the owner, the model they have put into the club has brought them success and Neil Lennon’s been a huge part of that as well.”

Fortunately, Coyle will be unavailable for an immediate start as he will be undergoing surgery to have his tongue removed from not one, but two bottoms, a remarkable piece of multi tasking. 

While the future remains uncertain at Celtic Park, lets have a look back forty seven years, back to the biggest day in the clubs history. For it was on this day in 1967 that a bunch of lads from Glasgow , under the guidance of an ex miner and a big lad from Sligo won the biggest prize in club football. And they won it in such a way that it changed the way football would be played forever.

Sean Fallon on twitter has this picture, which shows more of the personality behind the team than most;

while Barry Mcgonigle, the talented restorer, had this;

I liked this one, from James F. Kerr, which blends history with the present;

No matter what happens next season, I guess we’ll always have that season.

And the Lions themselves ?  I’m sure everyone in the stadium at last nights Champions League final heard them roar one last time when Sergio Ramos headed an equaliser for Real with three minutes of stoppage time on the clock. Real then went on to win 4-1, which is usually what happens to Atletico in European Cup finals.

Michael Laudrup , Peter Schmeichal and Marc Reiper were the three Danes in yesterdays picture. Who is the guy in this picture,, another candidate.. surprisingly taken during a European game.