Owen Coyle, who once famously rejected the chance to manage Celtic to stay at Burnley and manage in ‘the English Premier League’, has today made a guest appearance on The Celtic Huddle Podcast, hosted by former Celtic defender Mark Wilson to talk about the team he’s always supported.
Coyle these days is the manager at Indian Super League club Jamshedpur but he has been keeping a close eye on the Scottish Premiership this season as the battle to reach or stop a Ten in a Row was played out for the third time and once again it was a Bridge Too Far for the club trying to make the Ten.
“It’s such a big thing,” Coyle said before trying to pinpoint the reasons why Celtic didn’t make it happen.
“There are good people at the club – good staff. But they were NOT Neil’s staff,” he noted. A point that we have been making from the time Brendan Rodgers left. Ever since he left to join Leicester City, taking his backroom staff with him, this has been a Peter Lawwell Production.
“I know for a fact that Neil had asked for different people to come in and help him,” Coyle revealed. “That never transpired. I think he needed that, if I’m being honest.
“That’s nothing against the boys who are there as they are good people and good at what they do in their own right. But when you work with someone, as I’ve done with Sandy Stewart, you don’t need to ask things as you know what each other’s thoughts are.
“It’s like Derek McInnes and Tony Docherty,” he noted the morning after the pair ended their eight year association with Aberdeen. “But also, you know that people have their own minds and will say when they aren’t sure about something. You need that character.
“You know they are strong people and aren’t just there to agree with you. If they see something they’ll tell you. That’s why you want them – and I’m not sure Neil had that,” Coyne added.
“The thing about football clubs is that everyone needs to be aligned.For me, that didn’t seem to be the case.
If that was players who were wanting away, they should have just got them away,” Coyne stated. “The season was too big to have players who didn’t want to be there.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. But because of what was at stake, it was really important to establish who wanted to be there. As a player, if in your subconscious you want to be somewhere else, you might think you are ready for the game – but you’re not.
“At a club like Celtic, it’s not always about the best players. It’s about who’s got the mentality to go with the quality. If players aren’t focused mentally you won’t get the best out of them.
“It’s easy to blame the manager but players have to take responsibility. Over the piece, I think Neil’s been outstanding for Glasgow Celtic.”
