John Kennedy has told reporters that Ange Postecoglou was simply being “kind” when the Celtic boss said he runs the football department at Lennoxtown.
Postecoglou was full of praise for the Celtic coach earlier this week, divulging that he had the option to bring in his own backroom staff when he arrived in 2021 but wanted to work with those already in place at the Bhoys despite a difficult season for them prior.
The Celtic manager suggested Kennedy is a man of great influence at the training centre, effectively running the department under the Australian’s watchful eye. Now, the Celtic stalwart has given more insight into what the manager meant.
John Kennedy on how he supports Ange at Celtic
He said [Daily Record, 20/05 print edition, page 63]: “Ange is in charge. He has been kind there. As assistant manager, my job is to be a buffer. If everyone is going to the manager with everything, he will never get a minute’s peace.
“He’s got a lot of big decisions to make, a lot of things to deal with. So the day-to-day running of things, how the training operates, around the training ground in terms of things that need doing, the lesser decisions, that’s easy done.
“But certainly if there’s anything I need to run by him or bigger decisions need made, I’m the first to chap his door and make sure he’s aware of what’s going on and he has the information he needs to make the bigger decisions.
“He’s the one who makes the team selections, brings in players and speaks to the board about the strategy of the club. So I need to give him all the information to make these calls.”
Kennedy has been at Celtic in some capacity, from academy player to coach, for well over 20 years and is showing no sign of getting itchy feet to move elsewhere at this point.
He’s been linked with jobs elsewhere in Scottish football in the past but has remained steadfast in his role at Lennoxtown through ups and downs. Most of the time he’s been a contributor to great success and has a close relationship with players who have delivered so much over the last few years.
Under Ange, he’s relishing his role and the Celtic boss clearly trusts him to be an extra set of eyes and ears at training in a complex environment. Long may it continue!
In other news, Javier Sanchez Broto shares why he “cried like a little boy” after failed Celtic talks.
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