Former Celt Peter Grant reportedly set for Alloa job

By David Walton

July 10, 2019

Former Celtic hero Peter Grant is reportedly set to become the new Alloa Athletic manager later today.

According to the BBC, Grant is set to take up the post left by Jim Goodwin, who joined St Mirren in the Premiership. Grant hasn’t been in a coaching role since leaving the Scotland set-up under Alex McLeish back in April.

Interestingly, this would also be just Grant’s second managerial gig in football. He did coach Norwich for a brief period between 2006 and 2007, but it was an unspectacular period for him. There were also a few games where he was Fulham’s caretaker manager after Felix Magath’s departure, but it was nothing to reminisce about.

Peter Grant worked for Celtic during the Tony Mowbray era (Ed Garvey/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)

But there’s no denying Grant has a huge wealth of experience in the game outside of that. He’s spent time as a coach with Bournemouth, West Brom, West Ham, Celtic, Birmingham, and Fulham respectively.

His time at Parkhead, of course, was unfortunately a dark one. He came in with the Tony Mowbray regime, and would ultimately leave with him and Mark Venus after the 4-0 humiliation off St Mirren.

Peter Grant deserves the chance to prove himself

Grant remains a Celtic great despite his stint with Mowbray. He managed to accumulate 470 outings for Celtic during his 15-year association with the club. During that period, Grant managed two league titles and three Scottish Cups. His loyalty to the club during such a barren spell earned him a testimonial against Bayern Munich back in 1997.

Grant spent 15 years at Celtic as a player (Allsport UK/ALLSPORT via Getty Images)

It’s been a rollercoaster time for the former Celt in coaching. Now, however, he has the opportunity to form a team in his own image at Alloa. The deal to take him to the Wasps hasn’t yet been confirmed, but it seems all but there.

He certainly has the experience to make a positive impact in the Scottish Championship. It would be fantastic to see Grant come back to Parkhead as an opposition manager in the not too distant future. Getting the gig at Alloa provides him with a terrific platform to build in the Championship.

Grant’s last involvement in football was as Alex McLeish’s assistant at Scotland (Vagelis Georgariou/Action Plus via Getty Images)

It’s going to be a massive year for the Celtic great. Finally a chance to make his own mark in the game as a number one. It’s a chance he thoroughly deserves for the commitment and hard work he’s given to a variety of clubs during his coaching career.

It’s a reign many Celtic fans will likely be looking at with keen interest. There’s not many more passionate about the Hoops than Grant, and hopefully he makes his mark in the Scottish game this season.