Do Celtic manager targets show the SPL as weak?
Does Celtic’s management targets reflect badly on the standard of Scottish football?
Think of Scottish football and you’ll mostly likely think of one of two clubs: Glasgow Rangers or their cross-city rivals Celtic. The former have just been crowned champions, the latter are searching for a new manager after Gordon Strachan’s resignation.
But has the Bhoy’s search for a new manager reflected Scottish football in a bad light?
All the news has been of Celtic targeting Tony Mowbray, Owen Coyle or Roberto Martinez. The news from Celtic has not been of denial, but of a nodding sound that these are the types of managers they are after.
There is one thing in common with all of these managers: The Championship.
Champions League side Celtic have three Championship managers in their sight (I’m aware that Coyle is now a Premiership manager but he has never experienced the league).
Former Celtic assistant Billy Stark admits they aren’t the best targets for the Parkhead hot seat:
They’ve all got credentials that are well worth exploring. But, if you ask me have they got the full credentials.
Does this show how straight-forward and predictable the SPL is, or is it merely level-headed thinking from the Celtic board?
The two previous Celtic managers were those who has experience in the bottom half of the Premiership and The Championship – and brought success to the club:
- Outgoing gaffer Gordon Strachan constantly battled relegation with Coventry City before mid-table success with Southampton. He won the SPL title three times in a row.
- His predecessor was Martin O’Neill who had brought Wycombe into the Football League and guided Leicester to the Premiership.He won the domestic treble in his debut season and led the Bhoys to the 2003 UEFA Cup final.
Arsenal legend and ex-England captain Tony Adams, who had poor runs at both Wycombe and Portsmouth, has also been in the frame, even if he says so himself. But Adams himself admits that the SPL is predictable and uncompetitive, but attractive for managers who want silverware:
I’m very interested. I do love winning things.
Celtic is an unbelievable club, you have a 50% chance of winning something up there.
Adams hits on a point that as long as you are in charge of Celtic or Rangers, you will no doubt be in the running for some silverware throughout the season.
Personally, I don’t think Celtic’s targets show the SPL as weak, I think they show Celtic as being level-headed. Championship appointments in the past have paid dividends and they have seen Rangers splash big money flops like Paul le Guen and fail to distance themselves from their hooped rivals.
Related Posts
Leave a Reply
We're an online newspaper, bringing you the best of British news from the real world and the web. There’s enough doom and gloom in the world that it’s sometimes hard to see the fun in life, the good things, that make us smile. we're here to do just that.