When Celtic fans think of John Kennedy, they tend to think of one thing:
The two months he spent in interim charge at the back end of Celtic’s disastrous Covid season, after the departure of Neil Lennon.
That spell saw him tasked with dragging a broken team through two months of dead rubber games, with half of the players not wanting to be there.
In reality, Kennedy has been the one mainstay of Celtic’s most dominant period ever. Across his eleven years working the Hoops first team, they have won 22 trophies.
There was no one at Celtic who didn’t see him as one of the most important figures at the club – and his exit through the back door on Monday was a travesty.
Why John Kennedy’s Celtic exit was a travesty
Kennedy’s overall association with Celtic lasted 27 years. For this to end with a short mention in a statement is ridiculous.
But this isn’t just a defence of his longevity – Kennedy is evidently an elite coach.
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His loyalty to Celtic goes grossly under-appreciated. He remained on the first team’s backroom staff for over a decade despite all kinds of interest from elsewhere.
Not only did Brendan Rodgers try to take him to Leicester in 2019, but Ange Postecoglou tried the same in 2022, despite notoriously avoiding bringing coaches with him to jobs.
This was extremely telling, especially given the resources available to a club like Tottenham. But Kennedy opted to stay, once again.
This isn’t even mentioning the interest he has had to go and be the manager of clubs in Scotland abroad.
He said no to Hibs in 2022, and the following year, remained in post despite being reported as a ‘strong candidate’ to be the new manager of Midtjylland.
When Kristoffer Ajer departed the Hoops in 2021, he paid special tribute Kennedy, calling him “the most important person for me during my time at Celtic,” and saying that the Hoops’ dominance would not have been possible without him.
This all happened for a reason. Coaching circles are small, news spreads fast. The football world knows that Kennedy is a top coach, who has worked with several elite managers.
Should he have become Celtic manager? He’s certainly more qualified than most would give him credit for.
Why did John Kennedy leave Celtic?
Ultimately, we don’t know if Kennedy left on the same acrimonious terms as Rodgers, but it certainly looks like he left in solidarity with the former Hoops manager.
If so, questions need to be asked about Dermot Desmond’s statement which tried to blame all of the club’s issues on Rodgers. This situation was not just avoidable on Rodgers’ part, but also the board’s.
It’s difficult to make exact judgements with so much ambiguity around the situation, but it looks like the club’s handling of the summer transfer window has cost them a world-class coach who has been at Celtic Park for 27 years. That’s damning.
And as they accuse Rodgers of being ‘self-serving’, that is one criticism which absolutely cannot be levelled at Kennedy.
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