As we know, Celtic have a managerial vacancy after the resignation of Brendan Rodgers on Monday…
And if we can get past the surreal nature of the last 48 hours, we know from yesterday’s press conference that the plan is for Martin O’Neill to be an interim appointment only and that Shaun Maloney intends to return to his Pathways role too…
So Celtic are on the lookout for a new permanent manager, although the appointment of O’Neill and Maloney allows time for the process to be detailed rather than rushed. That time might prove vital. The club can afford to pause, assess, and hopefully avoid any kind of rushed decision-making.
Kieran McKenna emerged as the bookies’ favourite, as The Celtic Star reported yesterday, but of course, there are a few vacancies at Celtic after John Kennedy and several other backroom staff left Celtic with Brendan Rodgers. Indeed, only Stevie Woods and Gavin Strachan remain.
Celtic have already brought in Mark Fotheringham to help fill the vacant posts, although that appointment also looks temporary at this time. That’s a thin coaching group by any standard. Fotheringham’s arrival looks like a short-term fix, and maybe that’s intentional.
That’s no bad thing of course, any new manager coming in will normally want to bring their own staff, although it should be noted not only did that become a sticking point with the Eddie Howe debacle prior to Ange joining, but Ange himself, and Lennon before him, arrived solo, meanwhile Rodgers took a gradual approach of adding his own staff during his time with the club.
Meanwhile, there’s a development that’s flown a little under the radar but could prove significant.
There is an interesting Article in the ’42 today which states Celtic have approached Chelsea and been given permission to talk to Chelsea’s Under 21 Head coach Calum McFarlane, presumably as the direct replacement for John Kennedy. Here’s what they had to say:
‘Celtic are also not wasting time in wanting to speak with other coaches, and The 42 understands that they have requested permission from Chelsea to talk to their U21 head coach Calum McFarlane about joining the coaching ticket at Parkhead.
The 39-year-old began at Manchester City before joining Southampton and Chelsea only brought him to Stamford Bridge in July of this year. He is viewed as a rising star within the Chelsea multi-club model but it’s believed they have reluctantly agreed to allow him discuss his future with the Scottish giants, although talks have yet to take place.’
McFarlane’s name is an interesting one. Young, modern, and highly thought of within the Chelsea structure apparently, if Celtic are talking to him, even informally, it might suggest the club want to freshen up their coaching model rather than simply plug gaps.
The same publication has pointed out Celtic’s interest in Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna but cite wage and overall financial package difficulties, with the publication claiming McKenna is on good money at Ipswich and may already be picking up a salary similar to what Celtic were paying Brendan Rodgers. Here’s what they had to say on that.
‘(Kieran McKenna) would require a considerable financial package to not just entice him from Ipswich Town but also get him out of a new contract he signed after turning down the chance to become Chelsea boss in the summer of 2024.
It’s understood that Rodgers’ basic salary in Glasgow was less than the estimated £2 million plus per year McKenna collects at the Championship club, who have serious designs on returning to the Premier League after their relegation.’
And If The 42 are right, the same publication indicates the genesis of Brendan Rodgers breakdown in communication may go back to January this year and Celtic’s attempts to sign a Kyogo replacement.
It seems Brendan Rodgers was targeting a Premier League striker*, unnamed, who was an international not getting game time with his club, but the deal fell through. And it seems somewhere between identification of the player and contact with Celtic, someone decided the player in question might not be a good fit for Celtic.
You’d assume that wasn’t Rodgers given he was pushing for the deal, but it seems the club in question weren’t overly impressed with Celtic. Here’s what the ’42 had to say on that one.
‘But as people began to digest the news of Brendan Rodgers’ resignation, Martin O’Neill’s interim appointment, and then shareholder Dermot Desmond’s blistering statement, not everyone was surprised by the manner of the fallout.
Alarm bells were ringing back in January when Rodgers was on the lookout for a new striker. He spoke with a contact at a top flight club in England and looked to sort a loan deal for an international striker who was on the fringes of the first team and keen for regular football.
Strong, young and athletic, on the face of it the player in question was just what Rodgers was looking for.
The Celtic boss was the point of contact for the move, and while Jay Lefevre was the head of scouting operations, Rodgers was the one driving things to try and get it done. But a deal never materialised as it became apparent in discussions that the striker would not be a good fit in Glasgow.
Celtic did welcome a forward back to the club in January but it was Johnny Kenny who was returning after his successful loan spell with Shamrock Rovers.
Rodgers, though, wanted more and the manner of those dealings in January left a lasting impression at the particular Premier League club in question.’
That episode now perhaps reads like a clear warning sign. Rodgers may have wanted control, Celtic may have wanted committee. The two sides never quite met in the middle.
The disconnect seems to have stretched into the signing of Kel Iheanacho this summer. The striker was signed after being freed from his Sevilla contract, after the transfer window closed and Celtic had been unable to sign a replacement over the course of the summer.
But it seems even with a player Rodgers had worked with previously, the Celtic hierarchy found Rodgers somewhat disengaged from the process. Though, to be fair, like many of us he probably felt scunnered to be having to reach for his rolodex again to bail Celtic out of a recruitment mess of their own making.
Here’s what was reported regarding that. And note Peter Lawwell, the man we’re told these days is the chairman, seems somewhat hands on.
‘Rodgers is now gone and Paul Tisdale, appointed as Celtic’s head of football operations in October 2024, is understood to have been one of his key allies and would not have had strong ties to the hierarchy above.
Indeed, it’s understood that when Celtic eventually did end up signing striker Kelechi Iheanacho – who Rodgers worked with at Leicester City – in the summer, non-executive chairman Peter Lawwell and chief executive officer Michael Nicholson were somewhat blindsided as communication with Rodgers was so limited.
The pair, along with former Exeter City boss Tisdale, will want a stronger say in who does eventually become the permanent replacement.’
In other words, by the time Celtic finally got Iheanacho, the process had already unravelled. Rodgers was perhaps disengaged. Lawwell and Nicholson were apparently blindsided apparently by his disengagement. Tisdale meanwhile seems caught between two stools. Although Rodgers resignation removes that blockage now, and there are rumours that Tisdale is very much involved in the new manager search.
The system, however, as we all knew, was broken long before the resignation letter hit the desk.
Now, O’Neill’s interim spell gives the club breathing room, but not much more. The next appointment will have to bridge a clear divide between the football department and the boardroom, or we’ll be back here again soon enough.
Celtic can perhaps afford to take their time this time, the interim appointments buy us that, but we can’t afford to get it wrong.
*Just a guess but I would imagine that the mystery striker referred to above but not named is Evan Ferguson.
Niall J
Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, signed copies by Danny McGrain available from celticstarbooks.com
Don’t miss the chance to purchase the late, great Celtic historian David Potter’s final book. All remaining copies have been signed by the legendary Celtic captain Danny McGrain PLUS you’ll also receive a FREE copy of David Potter’s Willie Fernie biography – Putting on the Style, and you’ll only be charged for postage on one book. Order from Celtic Star Books HERE.
Lawwell, a supposedly non-executive Chairman, should have no say whatsoever in recruitment matters yet it’s seemingly obvious he’s still interfering, manipulating, and controlling things behind the scenes. It also seems fairly obvious that Nicholson is his toothless and gutless puppet.as CEO.
As for Tisdale – either he has been over-ruled in his recruiting recommendations or is useless. One wonders just what he’s been doing since Kyogo left in January and since knowing Kuhn was leaving.
The fact that DD, another, supposedly non-executive member of the Board, took over the official communication site to vent his disgraceful and unprofessional personal attack on Rodgers speaks volumes as to the nonsense of his & Lawwell’s supposed ‘non-executive’ roles.
With his 37.4% shareholding, how on earth is DD, permitted, along with Lawwell, to run the club as their own fiefdom?
Very surprised at you niall, to ignore the footballing decisions made by Rodgers, to try and promote the anti board agenda, for the footballing decisions taken imo.
That piece is just nonsense, so struggling to understand why you want to promote the likes?
Look properly at the 3 footballing decisions taken last January imo. And only 3 were allowed to be made to the squad, while still in CL contention.
1) valle was allowed to leave his loan deal, and replaced by schulpp. Rodgers opted for an inverted full back in Taylor, where the other 3 in AJ, ralston and valle, were more suited to the overlapping roles. Worked better on our right side, with Kuhn looking at coming inside all the time. Yet never worked so well on the left, especially with the pace of Maeda. So an unbalanced approach. Yet Taylor becoming a scapegoat in the inverted role, with such a sideways and backwards policy in place for the position. Schulpp only offered another option within the inverted left back role, as wasn’t on offer within the right back role within the system of play involved.
2) Palma despite a promising start, became a surplus for requirements, within Rodgers plans. Getting replaced by jota despite him having so little football played for 18 months.
Still another footballing decision that warrants any real complaints.
3) The kyogo lie, that continues to get so much promotion. Kyogo wanted out for 6 months previously, and never fitted properly into Rodgers plans for a striker role, any wonder he became so disillusioned? Yet we had Idah as only a 9M substitute available within our squad. Was it to much to be asking him to step up and start justifying his fee, especially as Rodgers wanted him so badly?
Kenny was also a homegrown talent, that was hoping going to help fill our homegrown requirements for this season. Still waiting for it to happen, but why such a focus on trying to develop other clubs younger talents?
Maeda was always an option to still keep the 7 attacking options within the squad intact. May have been formed with a 5 wide option with 2 strikers. Yet Maeda allows for a 4/3 to be used. Could that have been the main reason as to why Maeda wasn’t allowed to leave in the summer within the squad building process?
The main reason why such plans didn’t work so well after January, was Idah not stepping up in a starting striker role.
Is it any wonder Rodgers finally losing patience with him during the CL qualification games, and maybe having enough of his attitude?
Going out getting kelchi was an emergency signing for Rodgers to potentially save face, upon his mistake over Idah.
Damage was possibly done for the board in losing trust within the decision making of Rodgers imo.
Now, as we possibly will never know what actually went on behind closed doors. I still wouldn’t condemn the decision making process of Rodgers in January. But he couldn’t make them work as properly as intended. So certainly not buying into the excuses used for the likes. Especially with trying to promote that the board are or were making footballing decisions on behalf of Rodgers?
Don’t believe it has been in existence for some time now, and wasn’t in existence whatsoever in January imo?