It’s the hope that kills you: Jesse Marsch won’t be coming to Celtic, it turns out.
We didn’t fancy you anyway! We were only joking! Etc, etc and so on. We can pretend we didn’t want Jesse Marsch to be the next Celtic manager, if that’s what you’d prefer, but man. How nice it could’ve been.
Maybe he’ll be in the Celtic dugout one day, but this shouldn’t be the body blow that it represents at this moment in time. One of the most hyped-up managers in Europe said he’d fancy the job, and that it was an honour to be linked. That’s something. Timing is crucial, and currently, Jesse Marsch feels he still has something to prove at RB Salzburg.
Sometimes, it turns out, managers see out projects until they’re finished [BBC].
It’s not like we don’t have other options, hypothetically speaking. We all know there are a few managers that Celtic supporters would be quite alright with. One beat our rivals last night and is making real inroads in the Europa League, something that Celtic supporters are desperate to do.
The board can’t use this disappointment as a springboard to disillusion supporters. Certainly, Marsch emerged as an ideal candidate this week, and given his history with the club’s hierarchy, there’s a pre-established relationship there. But this bad news can’t mean we end up going for a readily available “Celtic Man” just for the sake of it.
Despite Jesse Marsch news, Celtic are attractive to big-name managers; here are 3 stand-out candidates
It’d be great to see ourselves linked with managers of Marsch’s calibre. The likes of Lucien Favre, Gerardo Seoane, Eddie Howe; proven coaches with experience, who play attacking football and recruit well.
Take, for example, Seoane. Yes, his Young Boys side were just knocked out of the Europa League by a talented Ajax team [UEFA]. He’s still an excellent choice, chasing his third successive Swiss title. His Young Boys team play an attacking 4-4-2, with emphasis on youth talent and shrewd recruitment.
Seoane has brought in players from far-flung locales, like Meschack Elia from DR Congo and Luxembourgish midfielder Christopher Martins Pereira. BSC Young Boys have reaped the rewards, after snapping up the 42-year-old boss just months after a successful managerial debut with FC Luzern.
Lucien Favre’s name is already well-known. Yes, his wages might be on the expensive end of the scale. However, the former Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and OGC Nice manager is undoubtedly talented. Twice a Swiss champion with FC Zurich, he has turned very average teams into Champions League sides. Moreover, Favre plays entertaining, attacking football.
With the best win ratio at BVB since Jürgen Klopp, Favre is a master negotiator [The Mastermind Site]. It was Favre who convinced Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham to sign for the German giants, ahead of massive English clubs like Manchester United. He also coached Marco Reus to his best season in years, and over his career turned the likes of Pulisic and Ter-Stegen into household names.
Eddie Howe is a more known quantity. As we’ve explored at length, Howe is a fantastic candidate. He’s worked to great effect with small budgets, handled intense atmospheres and bloodied noses of high-calibre Premier League opposition. His recruitment is generally very decent, and he sets his teams up to high-energy, short-passing football.
The candidates are there, the board needs to make the right call
Any of those three, or Enzo Maresca, Jindřich Trpišovský… you get the idea here. This is a good “recruiting class”, if you will. There are plenty of excellent options here, and the board need to sell season tickets as a matter of urgency.
It’d be a grave shame then, if Celtic went with a more familiar, less qualified name for the sake of sentiment. Nostalgia and a fuzzy feeling of familiarity don’t win titles, top coaches do.
We don’t get into the latter stages of a European competition by appointing someone based on their ability to reel off the names of Celtic greats.
Relationships with clubs are something that are earned, that are nurtured over time. We’ve created plenty of Celtic legends, who were almost completely unknown in a Scottish context. We don’t attach endless nostalgia to player recruitment, so the manager hunt must be approached the same way.
Yes, losing out on Jesse Marsch was a blow. For now, though, there are plenty of fantastic candidates and the board cannot get this wrong.
READ MORE: “I know how good he is”, says former Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney.
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