BBC pundit and former Motherwell reserve boss Maurice Ross has become the latest to push the idea of Jesse Marsch to Celtic.
Marsch carried out an extensive interview with the BBC in recent days. It was published in snippets on their website before the full interview was broadcast on BBC Sportsound. The RB Salzburg manager admitted that he would be “honoured” and “interested” in the role.
He hasn’t been the only one to be linked of course. Last week, Roy Keane was reported to be extremely keen on bagging the job [Scottish Sun]. Names from Steve Clarke to David Wagner have been put out there since Neil Lennon departed. However, Marsch is most certainly one of the more intriguing options.
Ross took his pro-license along with Marsch and spent the afternoon listening to his footballing philosophy. It’s fair to say he came out mightily impressed.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound, the Motherwell man said: “I think if Celtic got Jesse Marsch then they’ll have won a watch, I really do. The new breed of manager is fundamentally a coach and someone who can manage. They’re hybrids. This guy’s got the lot for me.
“I said before that if Celtic go and make a knee-jerk appointment that appeases fans because they’re Celtic-minded or all of that stuff that gets banded around, I think it’ll be a mistake.
“The key words that stood out for me were ‘project’, ‘investing’, ‘process’, ‘development’. These things take time to embed and take time to go through. But if they’re patient enough with this to appoint a guy like Jesse Marsch who’s going to maybe need that first year or two years – I think the club would be in a far greater state than it is today.
“Looking at the names that have been mentioned over the last week. What has Roy Keane done to even be in the hat for this discussion? What’s he done to get one of the most prestigious jobs in world football?”
Do Celtic have the patience to integrate a more modern structure?
The ex-Motherwell man brings up a good point here. The question of whether Celtic do indeed have the patience to go out and get a Marsch. Because it’s certainly going to take both that and investment.
If Celtic are looking for someone to come in and get immediate results, you would question whether Marsch is that man. Especially when he’s all about integrating youth and creating a culture at a football club.
That’s going to take some time. With a new chief executive and a new director of football coming in this summer, there’s going to be substantial change. To expect all of this to click within weeks, regardless of who the new manager is, would be naive.
We have to expect Dermot Desmond knows what he’s doing here. This modern re-structuring of the club is going to have to be something that stands the test of time. It could take a period of time before we start to see the magnitutde of results that we would like.
However, Celtic are still Scotland’s biggest and richest club. There’s no reason that, even with a new structure in place, that we can’t challenge for the title. Players don’t forget how to score goals or forget how to clear the ball just because a new director of football is in place.
Any new coach in any environment has to instill his philosophy and tactics into his players. Yes, it will take time for us to see the full potential of whatever long-term plan Celtic put into place. But, regardless of who the manager is, the title will be expected next season.
In other news, Celtic must end this frustrating policy if they want to secure a top appointment.
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