Former Leeds and Kilmarnock defender, Alex Bruce, spoke to Football Insider about current affairs in Scottish football this week.
The Englishman was asked about the departure of Damien Duff and what effect this may have on the Celtic squad. Despite Duff’s abilities, Bruce is confident that everything will be fine at Parkhead, having heard about the club’s influential assistant manager.
Bruce told the website: “When someone’s just come out of the game they understand the modern-day player and what it’s all about compared to a coach who finished playing 15, 20 years ago. That gives you (Duff) that advantage where he knows what a modern-day player’s psyche is all about. However, he’s inexperienced, he’s only been there a year or two so whether he’s going to be a huge loss, only time will tell.
“I think the main people there are Neil Lennon and his assistant (John Kennedy), who’s been there a number of years. He’s very well thought of at Celtic, him and Lenny are the main two guys so as long as they keep hold of them, I think they’ll be okay. He’s (Kennedy) meant to be an exceptional coach and a big part of the backroom staff at Celtic.”
Kennedy was a fine talent as a player. He broke into the first team at Parkhead at a young age and was part of the team which conquered Barcelona in the UEFA Cup of 2004. A cruel injury forced the Scotsman to retire, before he was handed a scouting job with Celtic in 2010. Since then, Kennedy has taken up a number of roles including defensive coach, before becoming Neil Lennon’s assistant. He is very highly talked of and is expected to become the club’s manager in the future.
