It’s a strangely exciting time to see so many different names linked with the Celtic job, while it’s hard to see what direction the club will go in.
If Neil Lennon had limped over the line in the league this season or at least kept things close then you could see the board going with a similar approach, but the disaster of a season means they will need to show a bit of ambition this time.
It’s easy to get down on the club after this season and wonder why any big-name managers would take the job, but it should be an appealing destination for so many coaches.
It’s easy to underestimate the fact that the majority of professionals won’t play or manage a giant club and they won’t win any major silverware in their career either, so the allure of Celtic and being the hero to a giant crowd will appeal to a lot of egos.
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Time will tell how far-fetched the idea of Rafa Benitez really is, but he has been linked with the job in recent days and it doesn’t look completely ridiculous.
Obviously he could get another job like Newcastle where mediocrity is the only goal or he could be a short term fix for an elite team before being unceremoniously booted when a bigger name becomes available, but he’s already been there and done that.
He’s not had a chance to actually settle down recently and build something huge, but Celtic would give him the chance to win silverware, impose his style on the club and he would follow in the footsteps of legends if he does a great job.
There is other interest in him and reports from Italy indicated that Napoli were looking to bring him back, but this suggests that he’s done being the short term fixer for sides.
They state that he’s not interested in the job because they are in freefall and he doesn’t want to take on a salvage job at this point, so there’s a little glimmer of hope from a Celtic point of view here.
This season has been poor but the club aren’t close to being a salvage job just now, so it does make you wonder if there’s a chance of this happening….