After the departure of Neil Lennon who resigned days after a humiliating defeat to relegation battlers Ross County, Celtic are on the lookout for a new manager to take the reigns next season at Parkhead. This article will look at 5 potential candidates who could be in the dugout for Celtic next season.
5. Michael O’Neill
The current Stoke manager will be one that certainly raises a few eyebrows but could be a potential option for Celtic. He guided Northern Ireland to their first ever European Championship in 2016 and it was Northern Ireland’s first major tournament in 30 years. He steered Northern Ireland to a respectable last 16 finish after being narrowly beaten by Wales. He left Northern Ireland to join Stoke in November 2019 avoiding the Potters being relegated. So far this season, Stoke have been impressive and with a decent run of form could reach the English Championship play-offs which could be the pathway for an English Premier League return. With spells at Dundee United, Hibs, Aberdeen, St Johnstone, Clydebank and Ayr United in his playing career, O’Neill is no stranger to life in Scotland. O’Neill knows the British market which could be vital in Celtic’s rebuild but will the Celtic hierarchy eye the Stoke boss? Only time will tell.
celtsmedia verdict: No.
4. Roy Keane
Keano in the Celtic dugout next season? Surely not. The former Celtic, Manchester United and Nottingham Forrest man has only ever managed two clubs, Sunderland and Ipswich both ending in a resignation and a sacking. Keane has been out of coaching for nearly 2 years now after quitting his role as assistant manager at Nottingham Forrest in June 2019. Keane who has worked alongside Martin O’Neill and has worked under Sir Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough could interest Dermot Desmond who has a close relationship with the Irishman. Keane has recently expressed his desire to get back into club management and with a void that’s needing filled at Celtic could he get back into club management for the first time in 10 years? With a 42% win ratio at Sunderland and a 34.6% win ratio at Ipswich is he the man to completely revamp Celtic? We think he is someone that we need to look beyond and not even consider.
celtsmedia verdict: No.
3. Roberto Martinez
Unrealistic? Maybe. Why not ask the question? The current Belgium manager is looking ahead to Euro 2020 and World Cup 2022 and potentially going in as favourites in both! Martinez‘s right hand man is former Hoops player Shaun Maloney, so with a combination of a top class manager + someone who knows what it takes to be a Celtic player who is also a modernised and analytically fascinating coach it could be a deadly combination for Celtic. Martinez who had successful spells at Wigan, Swansea and Everton, guiding Everton to a fantastic 5th place finish and winning Wigan an historic FA Cup in 2013 after beating Manchester City at Wembley has the pedigree to become a hugely successful Celtic manager. The Spaniard has been out of club management for 5 years now but could this be a route back into it once Euro 2020 is finally completed? It is understandable that it would be difficult to lure Martinez and Maloney away from Belgium to Celtic but you can only ask the question.
celtsmedia verdict: Yes.
2. Steve Clarke
Now this is a very interesting one, a manager who will no doubt split opinion amongst the Celtic support. The current Scotland boss has had a flurry of success in recent years in his management impressing so much at Kilmarnock culminating in a 3rd place finish and a European spot that he was given the Scotland National Team job where for the first time in 23 years, Scotland will be at a major finals. Questions will arise about Clarke’s style of play with his notoriously boring and quite defensive tactics but ultimately he gets results and after the season Celtic have just had, I’m sure we can all agree we’d take 1-0’s every day of the week next season if it meant we’d take the league title back. He’s worked with some big clubs such as Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle down in England and he is no stranger to the Scottish Premiership. With incoming CEO Dominic McKay looking for immediate and long-term success, the current Scotland boss could be a viable option for the Hoops.
celtsmedia verdict: Yes.
1. Eddie Howe
For me, this has to be Celtic’s number 1 priority. A man who got in relative terms a small club in Bournemouth who have an 11,000 capacity, with limited resources from English League 1 in 2012 to 3 years later competing with the big boys in the English Premier League and then going onto retain Premier League status for 5 years with marginally being relegated just last season. The 43 year-old had an 8 year spell at Bournemouth before resigning at the end of last season and he showed his great man management skills at galvanising a group of players, working with a small budget in comparison to everyone else in the English Premier League and showing his great tactical work by progressing the development of players such as Nathan Ake who signed for Manchester City for £40 million, current England centre-back Tyrone Mings who signed for Aston Villa for £20 million, Callum Wilson and Aaron Ramsdale departing the Cherries for big fees as well and a lot of that is down to the fantastic work from Eddie Howe. He’d be able to come into Celtic and implement his ideas which brought him a considerable amount of success at Bournemouth to try get Celtic back to that next level. Howe is an upcoming manager and he is not in a job so the Celtic hierarchy don’t have the trouble of dealing with compensation from other clubs so this is a valuable opportunity for Celtic to go and get a progressive, modern and highly rated coach
celtsmedia verdict: Yes.
Overall, there are many candidates that we have not looked at in this article such as people like Frank Lampard, Mark Hughes and current interim boss John Kennedy that quite possibly could be in contention for the job. It is important after such a humiliating season for Celtic we get the new managerial appointment right and they can bring success back to Celtic Park next season.
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