Yesterday we got the news that the bookmakers had made Celtic coach Gavin Strachan the new leading candidate for the managers job at English League 2 side Hartlepool United.
However as reported last night, Scottish football Journalist Alan Nixon then claimed that Strachan has turned down the opportunity in order to stay at Celtic Park.
Hartlepool. Gavin Strachan has turned down the move to become manager … staying with Celtic.
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) November 29, 2021
Originally it was thought that former Middlesbrough manager Jonathan Woodgate was at the front of the queue but as that rumour cooled the talk around former Hartlepool player Strachan leaving Celtic heated up. So what are Strachan’s credentials for a manager’s job?
Strachan made just under 100 appearances for Hartlepool during a three-and-a-half year spell at the Suit Direct Stadium from 2003-2007.
Strachan is son of former Celtic manager Gordon, who has been back at the club recently in a ‘consultancy role’ overlooking the academy, the b-team and the women’s team set ups.
Strachan has only had one spell in management after taking over at Northern Premier League side Ilkeston in 2015 after four years spent as youth coach at Peterborough.
But the Scot was only in charge for six months before leaving to team up with Darren Ferguson at Doncaster Rovers in an assistant role.
Strachan once again linked up with Ferguson and headed back to Peterborough in 2018 where he spent a couple of years before moving to Celtic as first team coach in the summer of 2020.
Strachan has often been the subject of ridicule from Celtic fans mainly due to often being spotted at pitchside on a laptop. To be fair to Strachan he actually took it on the chin and even appeared with it in the latest Christmas video released by the club.
Last season Strachan and John Kennedy both came in for a lot of criticism while part of the coaching set up under manager Neil Lennon. In a year that literally nothing seemed to go right, not many people associated with the club came out the other side of it with their reputations intact.
Most assumed when a new manager came in that it would signal the end of the road for Strachan and Kennedy but surprisingly Ange Postecoglou has come in and retained the services of both coaches. Now this doesn’t mean that the Aussie has them in his long term plans as he may prefer to work with his own people but so far he seems happy enough letting the pair continue.
With Strachan turning down Hartlepool this could be an indication that he may see his long term future with Celtic under Ange Postecoglou. He certainly seems much happier this season compared to last year, just like the rest of us really!
Conall McGinty
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