Scotland manager Steve Clarke has opened up on his failed managerial interview with Celtic. The ex-West Brom manager was interviewed by Dermot Desmond back in 2014 as the club looked to replace Neil Lennon.
Speaking to The Sun, Clarke revealed that he felt the interview went well, only to find out that Ronny Deila would be appointed as the club’s next manager instead of Clarke and Keane.
“At the start of that summer, I was quite confident I’d come out the other side in a job of some kind.
“I met Dermot Desmond at his place in London and we had a good chat. I was interviewed by Brighton at around the same time. I had two really good interviews at two really good clubs and ended up runner-up in both.
“Celtic appointed Ronny Deila and Sami Hyypia got the Brighton job. So it was a little lesson for me not to be too confident about getting a job in future.
“It’s nice to be wanted, it’s nice to be invited for interviews but it’s not always certain a job is going to result.
“A few months later I went to Reading. The job didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, but I made the most of it then moved on.”
Deila would end up getting the job and winning three trophies in two years. Clarke meanwhile would end up at Kilmarnock after a spell at Reading, guiding them to third place before leaving for Scotland. In truth he might have been a steady appointment and less of an experiment than Deila; however, his style of play is quite laboured whilst Deila had his teams playing some excellent football.
Clarke has helped Scotland to their first major tournament since 1998, with games against Czech Republic, Croatia and England this summer at the Euros. Killie meanwhile were relegated after losing in the play-offs against Dundee.
