Dermot Desmond can relax a little as he searches for Celtic’s next manager.
The fact that Celtic beat Rangers in the League Cup semi-final on Sunday, thanks to Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney, has just eased that process.
During that period, several names have been tipped, suggested and rumoured for the next permanent Celtic manager’s job.
But not many of you would have thought that Liverpool’s legendary coach, Jurgen Klopp, would get a mention, as Kris Boyd and Steven Naismith certainly didn’t think so.
- READ MORE: Kris Boyd says Dermot Desmond would make a ‘statement’ by appointing Brendan Rodgers-esque coach
Jurgen Klopp tipped for Celtic manager’s job
Following the fallout from Celtic knocking Rangers out of the League Cup, the likes of Charlie Mulgrew, Boyd, and Naismith discussed what would happen next with the champions of Scotland.
That’s when Mulgrew, both joking and being serious, suggested that Desmond should knock on Klopp’s door and ask him to don the famous green and white colours.
Speaking on the Warm Up podcast, Boyd and Naismith couldn’t believe what they were hearing, with the latter asking, ‘Are you playing Football Manager?’
Mulgrew: “I would go all out and get Jurgen Klopp through the door.”
Boyd: “Oh my days.”
Naismith laughs: “Are you playing Football Manager here?”
Mulgrew then smiles: “Why can’t we?”
Naismith: “You can’t say that with a straight face.”
Mulgrew then laughs: “Why not? £7 million a year. Give him it. Jurgen Klopp through the door. Why do you keep looking at your watch?”
Boyd: “It’s quarter to 11. Did you kick on after the semi-final? Or are you up early this morning?”
Mulgrew: “What’s your argument against it? I know it’s unrealistic.”
Naismith: “Aye, that’s the argument.”
Mulgrew: “Could Dermot Desmond go, ‘do you know. We are going to bounce back after Rodgers here, and we are going to go.'”
Naismith: “If you are Jurgen Klopp. Are you thinking, ‘I am going to go to Celtic, if I can go to an elite top five in the world?'”
Mulgrew: “There aren’t many European teams bigger than Celtic. With Rangers, it’s a different story. He wouldn’t get anywhere near that (laughs). You guys are raging because you don’t want it to be Klopp. You are trying to shoot it down, in case it gathers any pace.
“And Klopp goes, ‘Oh, I fancy that.'”
Of course it will never happen…
The days of Celtic, or even Rangers, remotely trying to compete with the top European leagues are over because of the financial side of the game.
Primarily, the players; if you go back to when O’Neill was first in charge, or before the turn of the century, then Glasgow could attract a higher-calibre of player.
Unless something changes on the financial front, Scottish football will continue to shop at the lower end of the food chain.
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