Back in February Celtic let it be known, through the usual trusted mainstream media sources, that the club was looking at employing a Director of Football. Indeed, via journalist Stephen McGowan and the Daily Mail, we were informed that Celtic had engaged Nolan Partners the executive headhunters, to assemble a shortlist of candidates for interview.
At that stage with Fergal Harkin from Manchester City was already a known option, others under consideration appeared to be Matteo Tognozzi and David Webb. We then appeared to go off that path as the Eddie Howe saga unravelled with Richard Hughes apparently earmarked for a role had Howe not pulled the plug late in the day.
Today Alan Nixon, another journalist with known ties to the club has an article in Scottish Sun testing the water perhaps, that Gordon Strachan is wanted for a senior position within Celtic’s new structure, the same structure we’ve not had communicated so far might I add.
This is not new information, indeed The Celtic Star let you know about that rumour several weeks ago. This one you’d assume was not on the recommendation of the head-hunters previously employed, perhaps those CVs are in the same drawer containing the applications received for the manager’s post when Brendan Rodgers jumped ship. Then this strange story took an unexpected twist when The Scotsman’s Andrew Smith, as reported on The Celtic Star, revealed that a Celtic source had poured cold water on the renewed speculation that Strachan senior was about to be appointed Technical Director at Celtic.
Communication and modernisation have been Dominic McKay’s buzzwords of late, and it must be said on the former Celtic’s incoming Chief executive has made the first tentative steps into his role far more forthcoming with chat than his predecessor has been for many years, that is a welcome start. However, the latter buzzword of modernisation appears at odds with the possible appointment of a former manager who had a very successful role four-year spell as Celtic manager but one who has done little of note in the game bar babysitting Dundee’s rookie boss James McPake since leaving his role as Scotland manager in 2017.
There is no doubting Gordon Strachan’s football credentials. He was one of Scotland’s finest footballers and has served well as a club manager at Coventry City, Southampton, Celtic and Middlesboro, he also in my mind did a fantastic job as Scotland manager and was on to something just as he was ludicrously let go, and we repented at leisure on that one until Steve Clarke picked us up.
Despite this story there is little substance added to what Gordon Strachan’s role would be, if it were to happen. If it was as some form of technical consultant sticking entirely to improving the coaching, development and pathways of the Academy players and coaching staff up to the cusp of the first team, and as such allowing Ange Postecoglou the time and space to focus entirely on a first team rebuild in the short-term at least, I’d see some merit. Particularly as that would remove the conflict of interest of having his son on the first team coaching staff and therefore removed from any decision to retain or despatch with family.
I for one could listen to Gordon Strachan’s views on the development of footballers for as long as he was willing to talk about it and if that separation was in place from the first team, I’d say there were few better candidates to have the ideas to improve Celtic’s misfiring youth conveyer belt.
If it went beyond that, if it was a Directorship, a place on the board, or the bridge between the boardroom and the manager, if it was designed to bring a real modernisation of the club at all levels, I’d have reservations. This after all is a man who recently stated his reasons for not returning to football management were in a part due to the tiresomeness of dealing with the boardroom and has also been more than willing, in my opinion, to opine the values of the Celtic Board whilst discrediting the validity of the listlessness in the Celtic support as to the way the club is run. My overriding concern of a role beyond revamping the youth side of the club would be that he would be a board yes man.
There is also a barely hidden general disdain toward the rank-and-file support having any opinion that may be worth listening to, and past comments about Devil dugs and Kestrel drinking fans still hang in the air, as do recent comments made where he appeared to conflate the convicted sex offender Adam Johnson’s situation with racial abuse. It was not a good look and not inspiring of confidence to a modern outlook in a world where every organisation has to be acutely aware of its social responsibilities and the language used to convey opinion.
It is possible, and indeed likely that Fergal Harkin’s, much like Eddie Howe’s, refusal to join Celtic was due to the scale of the job and the remit and comparative funding afforded to the potential candidates. As such it could be Gordon Strachan’s appointment to such a technical role would allow some form of structure to be implemented with a view to stepping away in a year or two and encouraging a progressive candidate to have something to work with, rather than be expected to rebuild from nigh on Ground Zero as seems to be the case at present. Would having that groundwork in place encourage future applicants, aware of the importance of hitting the ground running? I’m sure it probably would.
Legendary fixer Ralf Rangnick has often said he likes to improve structures rather than build them due to the time it takes, allied to the concern he has over any club having unworkable structures as being an organisation suitable for his input in the first place. It could well be that the likes of Harkin et al have fed back a similar message to Celtic, as it appeared Jesse Marsch and Eddie Howe did at a footballing level, and as such Strachan’s appointment could be the club listening and laying some short-term groundwork with a view to attracting better candidates further down the line. Though I must say I’d find it a stretch to assume this is the plan, rather than an uninspiring and ambitionless potential appointment from a board lacking in modern thinking, as such giving such a benefit of the doubt is hard to do.
There are merits to an appointment of Gordon Strachan alongside a Director of Football or as a man to lay the groundwork for a future appointment, but when modernisation has been the buzzword used of late, alongside the future is our focus message relayed in recent times, I’m far from convinced Gordon Strachan fits the bill, at least not as a long-term appointment.
Though to judge that fully we’re back to the first buzzword from Dominic McKay – communication. Without any information since the fabled January Review, drip feeding names to trusted MSM sources gives us no indication as to what the focus of that future truly entails, or where someone like Gordon Strachan may or may not fit in. Hopefully that will change this week or next when the new CEO and the new manager speak to the Celtic fan media.
Niall J
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There should be a place for Gordon Strachan. 3 League titles out of 4 was not bad, you know!
How could CELTIC employ Strachan, it would create a massive conflict of interest if Ange wanted to dismiss his son as a coach, only an idiot would create such a potential situation, but then again we do have a boardroom full of them.