Former Celtic striker Alan McInally has thrown his weight behind the idea of Davie Moyes becoming the new Hoops boss, following the swift and surprising departure of Treble-winning coach, Ange Postecoglou. There has been a host of names linked so far, with former manager Brendan Rodgers linked with a shock return.
It is said though that majority shareholder Dermot Desmond, along with Chairman Peter Lawwell and CEO Michael Nicholson, have drawn up a four man shortlist to replace the former Australia head coach. However, amongst the names that are being mentioned with bookmakers, pundits and fans alike, our ex-striker reckons it should be a no-brainer in his opinion.
He said to Betfair’s Group Chat podcast: “For me, there’s always been two men destined to become manager of Celtic, one was the late Tommy Burns who was magnificent, and the other one is David Moyes. He’s got a rather big game coming up, and I just wonder if they can win and say, ‘thanks it’s been a blast everybody,’ I think that would be quite significant.
“Regardless of what happens in the final against Fiorentina, I think David might think that this is an opportunity for him to take a team, who by the way, are winning every week. It’s not as if they need to rebuild themselves, he’d obviously bring in new players… (going to Celtic is) an opportunity that’s almost a no-brainer.
“Despite some criticism over some signings at West Ham, they’ve finished relatively strong. Six weeks ago, they were staring down the barrel thinking they were involved in a relegation fight, but they got results, they beat Man United 1-0 and all of a sudden, they distanced themselves with no problems.
They’re in a huge final, and I know that for some people that competition might not mean an awful lot, but when you’re in a final you want to win it and they have an opportunity to go out and do that.
“West Ham are such a traditional team, they talk about Billy Bonds, Bobby Moore and Trevor Brooking, those players still resonate with the fans. They haven’t been getting European football at West Ham and you can say what you want about David Moyes, but he’s taken them to the final of the Europa Conference League and if they win it, they will party big time.”
There would have been a time when Davie Moyes was an attractive proposition to most Celtic supporters, but that time is long gone now. Stylistically, Moyes would be too much of a departure from the tenets of Angeball that we have come to know and love these last two years.
At this stage, Celtic are now looking for something completely different to Moyes I’m afraid.
Good football manager, nonetheless.
Paul Gillespie
