Stan Petrov has revealed that he can see himself managing Celtic in the future. The popular Bulgarian played in Glasgow from 1999 until he departed for Aston Villa in 2006. Having once claimed to have no interest in management, Petrov has performed a u-turn and now sees himself going into management following the completing of a sports management masters degree.
Speaking to the Herald, Petrov admitted that he would like to manage Celtic, should the opportunity present itself.
“As every ex-player (does). As somebody who played for Celtic, or any big club, if somebody came and said ‘one day would you like to manage?’ of course.
“It is one of the best things that you can do.
“It shows you how good you are as a manager, what you have achieved and you have been appreciated to do the right job.”
Petrov’s former midfield colleague Neil Lennon is the manager of the Scottish Champions but Petrov says that no-one knows in football what offers might be presented to Lennon as a result of the impressive job that he is doing at Celtic Park.
“But, at the moment they have a very good man as manager, my ex-team-mate who is doing a great job.
“It’s his second spell, but in the future, who knows?
“If you ask Neil Lennon if he would like to be Man United manager or Chelsea manager, of course he is going to say ‘yes’. He won’t say ‘no’.
“Sometimes we try to make people happy with what we say or don’t say but if you don’t have ambition, you should be aiming to reach these ambitions.
“If you want to be a manager at Celtic then you work towards that. Is it going to happen? Who knows? Maybe not, maybe yes.”
Petrov was signed from CSKA Sofia in 1999 by John Barnes for £2.8m but it wasn’t long before Kenny Dalglish replaced Barnes and his performances improved after a tough period settling. The summer that ushered Martin O’Neill’s arrival would be the catalyst for Petrov, he won the SPFA Young Player of the Year as Celtic completed a domestic treble.
Petrov detailed how his former managers had an impact on his career, mainly Martin O’Neill who Petrov thrived under.
“Martin O’Neill was the one that I have really learned a lot from – how to keep things simple, how to manage people, how to communicate with people, with what is important in football.
“Gordon Strachan is another one, he is a man who had things down to every single detail.
“When you balance these two things and take the best of it, maybe you are going to come out with something unique that you can use to further your career – or my career.
“Not long ago I did a presentation on management and what is more important – man management or on-the-pitch management.
“I asked a manager – I won’t mention his name – would you rather be a good man manager or the manager that can put on the best sessions on the training pitch?
“Obviously, I knew the answer. My answer is the same I would rather be a better man manager than anything else and some managers do complicate it.”
“I always believed that I could be a kind of a coach, I like to work with people, I like to communicate.
“For me, it was not a certain ‘no’.
“But if you were to tell me when I was 20 years old that I would do a Masters degree in sport management then I would have laughed at you and said ‘no chance’.”
INVINCIBLE by Matt Corr
Meanwhile The Celtic Star’s very own Matt Corr – who you may also know as a Tour Guide at Celtic Park – publishes his first Celtic book, titled INVINCIBLE – early next month. This beautiful hardback book will be the definitive story of Celtic’s magical2016-17 season – it truly is wonderful, a real joy to read, and brilliantly written by Matt.
If you have been reading Matt’s contributions on The Celtic Star or indeed in the Matchday Programme and the Celtic View you will know just how talented a Celtic writer he is. The book is published by The Celtic Star and you can pre-order below.
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