John Kennedy takes charge of Celtic at Pittodrie this evening for the seventh time, with three more games to follow. His record so far, three wins, two draws and that defeat on Sunday at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup means that his chances of getting the job on a permanent basis are pretty much gone. And yesterday the Interim Manager, who has worked alongside Ronny Deila, Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon during Celtic’s decade of domination, for the first time started to consider that his time at Celtic could be coming to a close.
At yesterday’s Mainstream Media conference – once again Celtic exclude the fans media (we might hear from them when season ticket sales are required) – Kennedy was asked if his own future in the game could be elsewhere. “Yeah, it might. You always have to prepare for that as it’s the same year-on-year if anything changes and depending what’s going on. But it’s not something I overly stress about,” he replied. Previously he’d say that he was comfortable with the position he was in and was happy to take the team through to the end of the season etc, without being concerned about his own role one way or the other.
“I focus on what I can control at the moment which is preparing the team,” Kennedy added. “Then if a hurdle comes along or a new challenge, whether it’s a change or anything else, I’ll address it and commit to it then.
“I want to just get this period by with and then we’ll go from there. My intention has been purely to lead the club through this period. When the time comes, if somebody wants to sit down and have a chat about how the squad is looking, and what everyone is thinking going forward, then we’ll have that conversation.
“But I’m genuinely not stressed about what the future holds for me. I’ll deal with it if it comes long. I know in my time here I’ve been fully committed to every position I’ve ever been in. And I’m content with that,” he added.
Kennedy revealed that he has yet to meet the incoming CEO Dominic McKay but will do so on Friday but he stressed that the chat would be informal, covering general matters and would NOT be some kind of job interview.
“We’ll deal with that if it comes, but it’s not me sitting on Friday trying to make a pitch. It’s very much an introduction and a general chat and we’ll take it from there.
“The conversation will be a casual one. I’ve never met Dominic McKay before, so it’s very much a chat about things at the club. It’s not an interview. It’s not a case of me trying to make a pitch for the job, that’s never been my intention anyway.”
McKay would do well to consider the knowledge, commitment to Celtic and the respect that Kennedy has in the dressing room. With Scott Brown leaving the club surely it makes sense to keep Kennedy at Celtic as part of the coaching staff, probably as the Assistant manager to Eddie Howe or whoever gets (or takes) the job.
However it’s also likely that another opportunity to manage a club will present itself to John Kennedy and he might fancy going down that route himself. He certainly has the experience and the know-how to be a successful manager.
Here’s John Kennedy talking to the Mainstream Media yesterday….
I don’t agree with Kennedy and Strachan staying in any capacity. They have played their part in this shambled so get rid off now. I really don’t care what the players think. If they thought highly of Kennedy they surely would have performed better. Just because you were injured while at the club shouldn’t mean a job for life.