Davie Hay, a former Celtic great who won trophies as player and manager at the club, believes that current member of the Hoops backroom staff will be the manager at Celtic Park sometime in the future. That man is current Celtic assistant manager John Kennedy.
Hay has ‘no doubt’ that Kennedy will be the man in charge of the Bhoys at some stage in the future. He has disclosed that it was witnessing Kennedy work with some youth players that made him realise that Neil Lennon’s number two will be Hoops boss one day.
“I could tell right there and then”
“Some years ago, I had the privilege of seeing John Kennedy at work at Barrowfield with a group of kids, and I could tell right there and then he would go on to be a great asset to Celtic as a coach” Hay said, writing in his column in the Evening Times.
“I have no doubt that he has what it takes to be the Celtic manager one day” he concluded.
It is certainly a bold prediction from Hay to say that he is certain that Kennedy will be Hoops manager at some stage. However, you can see where he is coming from. Kennedy has worked closely with Celtic’s last three managers, Ronny Deila, Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon.
Next logical step would be to become manager
He seems to have become increasingly influential over the years, as he has gone from coach to assistant manager. Logically, the next step after that is becoming manager.
However, whilst he is currently working with Neil Lennon, that might not happen for a while yet. Perhaps when Lennon eventually leaves Celtic then he will recommend that Kennedy takes over as manager.
That would ensure a seamless transition, and the players who are at the club will already be familiar with Kennedy’s methods.
John Kennedy seemingly has a big future at Celtic Park. It is obvious that he is highly-thought of when he has been part of the backroom staff for so long. Only time will tell if he becomes Celtic manager though. But it is interesting that a Celtic legend believes he will be.
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