Ayr United are considering Celtic coach Darren O’Dea as a managerial candidate, The Scottish Sun has reported.
Ayr sacked Jim Duffy earlier this week and are hunting for a new permanent boss. The report states that new managing director Graeme Mathie now has O’Dea on the radar.
The former Celtic defender is a big presence at Lennoxtown, working closely with Tommy McIntyre and the Celtic B team after gaining promotion from the U18s set-up.
Young players have spoken positively about working with O’Dea and it’s thought he is highly rated in the set-up.
Whether he fancies striking off on his own is unknown. However, he hasn’t been afraid to leave Celtic behind in the past.
He forged himself a playing career at Leeds United, Toronto FC and Dundee amongst others after failing to find regular first-team football with his beloved Bhoys.
Ayr are currently in the midst of a relegation-threatened season, sitting in 8th position in the Scottish Championship, just two points ahead of bottom-placed Greenock Morton.
It would be a major challenge for him to go in and turn that around. However, the Championship is incredibly competitive across the board this term and there is scope for pushing further up the table.
If O’Dea has long-term ambitions to be a manager in his own right then this could be the opportunity he’s been waiting for.
In other news, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou responds to crowd restrictions.
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