As a lifelong Celtic supporter, it’d be fair of me to suggest we’re a sentimental bunch.
That’s not a bad thing; we’re a club obsessed with knowing our history, the charitable roots that made us, our cultural impact. Internationally, we’re known as a beacon of tolerance, passion and success. These are all good things, and being a Celtic supporter is a good trait for someone to have.
Of that there’s no doubt.
We also remember 1967 fondly, of course. The Centenary Season. The Seville Run. All important parts of our history that we celebrate and and look back upon with kind memories. As I say; we’re a sentimental lot, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
That sentimentality does affect the club’s decisions at board level, however. If Neil Lennon hadn’t been a famous Celtic player, and the man who beat Barça [UEFA], would he have been allowed to overstay his welcome in such a dangerous way? Would he have survived the disastrous Champions League exit to Ferencvaros? A Glasgow Derby with no shots on target? You’d imagine not.
Sentiment and nostalgia gave Lennon longer than he deserved as Celtic boss. It mustn’t affect who we appoint to replace him.
After Brendan Rodgers heel turn, Celtic supporters should be wary
Brendan Rodgers spent an inordinate amount of time talking up his Sellick Man credentials. Take the Danny McGrain story [Celtic FC] that allegedly never took place. If anyone positioned himself as a Celtic supporter who was realising a childhood dream, it was Rodgers.
He said all the right things, until it was time to move to Leicester City.
We should use this as a cautionary tale, for two reasons. 1. We don’t need to appoint a manager who purports to be a Celtic fan for the sake of it, and 2. Even “Celtic fan” managers can let us down when we need them.
Take for example, Roy Keane. We’re genuinely considering the next manager of Celtic being a man who hasn’t managed a football team since 2011. In that year, he was sacked by Ipswich Town. It’s hardly the CV needed to win a Scottish Premiership and get us playing Champions League football now, is it?
Or, John Kennedy. He’s divisive to a ridiculous extreme, but it’s clear he hasn’t yet got the chops to take the Celtic job full-time. He is, however, a Celtic man, and the board have given him ample opportunity to build his coaching career at the club. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; but appointing him full-time because he’s a long-term Bhoys name would be incredibly unambitious.
We don’t need a bhoyhood fan in charge
I don’t need the Celtic manager to know the words to Fields of Athenry. If the new Celtic manager only vaguely knows the story of the Lisbon Lions, or the name of Jimmy McGrory, those are things they can learn as they go. The most important thing is winning football matches for Celtic Football Club.
Provided they aren’t linked to our rivals in a significant way, then I think we’re grand. The fact that say, Eddie Howe or Jesse Marsch aren’t long-term Celtic supporters shouldn’t be an obstacle. Or, more to the point, the fact that a manager is a long-term Celtic supporter shouldn’t vault them ahead of better coaches.
I can’t think of another club that delves into the well of the past as much as Celtic. Yes we’re different, and there are countless names to suggest that it’s a good thing; Billy McNeill, Jock Stein, Willie Maley, Jimmy McGrory, and so on and so forth.
However, it’s more about making the best objective footballing decision at this moment. We’re at a crucial juncture at the start of a new decade.
If it turns out the board have appointed someone like Roy Keane ahead of a proven winner, then it won’t matter that he knows his history.
Because we’ll have made the wrong choice.
READ MORE: Celtic are battling European giants for English wonderkid.
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