Footballers are faced with a wide selection of career options when they retire.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is proof that you don’t need to be a top player to become a manager, but many players go down this route regardless.
There’s also the Chris Sutton route of becoming a pundit. It’s certainly not for everyone, but less stressful than management for sure. Or why not go down the Si Ferry path of starting a podcast – plenty of footballers have followed in that direction.
Former Celtic men John Kennedy, Shaun Maloney, Stephen McManus and Jonny Hayes are all currently working in different roles in the club’s football set-up – it doesn’t have to be straight into senior management.
A less common route is becoming an agent, and one former Celtic striker was convinced to do just that whilst on holiday with Neil Lennon.
Ex-Celtic man on being convinced by Neil Lennon to be Leigh Griffiths’ agent
Jackie McNamara and Willo Flood are among the ex-Celtic players who have dipped their toes in agency.
Some fans will also remember when Dudu Dahan used to seem to come to Celtic Park with a new player every week.
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But another Hoops striker who was part of Wim Jansen’s iconic 1998 title-winning team was convinced to enter the profession by a holiday with Lennon – and ended up working with Leigh Griffiths.
Darren Jackson, who also played for Hearts, Hibs and Newcastle, worked with Griffiths prior to his move to Celtic.
Asked by Derek McGregor on the Scottish Sun’s One-to-One, Jackson said: “I was on holiday with Tommy Johnson and Lenny, and we went into the Clubhouse after a game of golf.
“Billy Dodds and Craig Burley were there along with Struan Marshall who was an agent. We had a few beers, sitting talking, and they didn’t gang up, but they were just kind of saying ‘are you not thinking about going into coaching?’
“I was stubborn, held my ground and said I was going to keep playing – and they were right, and I was probably wrong. I should’ve been looking at that.
“Just as we were leaving, Struan just said to me ‘Do you have your mobile number? I’ll phone you when I get home.’
“He phoned me and said they were looking for a Scottish agent, and would I fancy it. When I was a player, I enjoyed giving advice to the younger boys, and I just thought, ‘yeah, maybe I would.'”
Darren Jackson’s career as an agent
Griffiths wasn’t the only one whom Jackson worked with – he also assisted McNamara towards the back end of his career.
He helped another Scottish full-back, Mark Wilson, earn a move to Celtic in 2006. Wilson was in the opposite dugout to Rodgers in the Premier Sports Cup last month.
Jackson may have stopped working with Griffiths shortly before his move to Celtic, but he was still his agent when he received his first Scotland cap in 2012.
Griffiths went on to score 123 goals for the Hoops, and now lives in Australia.
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