Kenny Dalglish hails Celtic for "shrewd" appointment of Gordon Strachan

By David Walton

August 15, 2021

Celtic legend Kenny Dalglish has hailed the move from Dom McKay to bring back Gordon Strachan in a short-term advisory capacity.

Strachan was confirmed by the Hoops to be taking on a new project whilst also staying on as technical director with Dundee. His new role at Parkhead will involve analysing the academy, B team, and women’s teams whilst offering recommendations to the board on improvements that can be made to the development of all areas. The role is scheduled for a three-month basis.

The move caused some controversy for differing reasons. Sections of the support were left bemused as to how Strachan’s appointment can lead to the modernisation of the football club. It was also reported that the move could breach SFA guidelines on working for dual clubs.

However, Dalglish dismissed any concerns over the appointment whatsoever. Instead, he’s been quick to praise Strachan’s experience and believes this is a positive step for Celtic.

Speaking via his Sunday Post column, Dalglish said: “If Dundee, Celtic and Gordon are happy with the arrangement, that should override any concerns the SFA have. It looks as though new chief executive, Dominic McKay, wants a fresh pair of eyes and ears to look over certain aspects of Celtic’s current operation, and then report back with his findings and recommendations.

“Gordon knows Celtic, and knows football. To me, he looks like a sound choice to carry out this role for the Parkhead hierarchy. I think it’s a shrewd move by Dominic. Early into his new role, he will have plenty on his plate. It will be non-stop.

“Having Gordon employed as an adviser will take some weight off of Dom’s shoulders, as it’s just not possible for one man to cover every inch of what goes on in every department at Parkhead and Lennoxtown. So this will give Dom a good buffer, and Gordon can have open and frank conversations.”

Kenny Dalglish tips Gordon Strachan to be a successful appointment

A lot has been made out of very little when it comes to the Strachan appointment.

The main concerns are this. Firstly, it would’ve been ideal if Ange Postecoglou was the one analysing the coaching of the other departments. Or, if time restraints were an issue, he should’ve been the one choosing the right man to do it. Especially if we’re looking at the long-term under the current boss.

And secondly, it does remain difficult to see how the club can boast about modernising whilst looking to the past in Gordon. Of course, we accept Strachan knows more about football than many of us will. He knows the inner workings of successful football clubs and will hopefully bring something to the party.

It’s worth remembering that Strachan won’t have any influence on first-team affairs. That would’ve been a major issue if that wasn’t the case. But this looks to be a different project entirely.

It’s also down to the board whether they actually act on Strachan’s recommendations. You would hope these ideas would also be ticked off by the manager too before being implemented upon. Should that happen, we can’t really have too many complaints.

We can all question whether it was the right appointment to begin with. But the truth is that very minimal harm can come from it. So long as the board give the manager a key say.

In other news, Report: Cameron Carter-Vickers set to rejoin Bournemouth after Celtic speculation