Mark Fotheringham is more than just a popular character at Celtic; he’s evidently a fantastic coach.
On Martin O’Neill’s backroom staff with Shaun Maloney and Stephen McManus, he is living the dream in a way that he wasn’t able to as a player.
He made just three appearances as a teenager at the club in the early 2000s, but is now enjoying a wave of support from the Parkhead faithful after establishing himself as a cult hero.
Regardless of what the future holds for O’Neill, the club should not allow him to exit through the back door like they did in December.
What has Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic tenure done to your expectations for the Hoops’ next appointment?
Celtic must keep Mark Fotheringham next season
In disposing of O’Neill and all of his coaching staff, the club played an undeniably direct role in the disastrous 33-day spell of Wilfried Nancy.
It’s beyond doubt that the Frenchman could’ve done with a figure in his ear with pre-held knowledge of Celtic to simply tell him ‘no’ from time to time.
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We don’t know the identity of Celtic’s next manager, but we can safely say that it probably won’t be an unknown curveball like Nancy.
Robbie Keane, Jens Berthel Askou, Craig Bellamy, Roberto Martinez… all of them could do with ‘Fozzy’s help on and off the pitch.
Fotheringham has coached at Karlsruhe, Ingolstadt and Hertha Berlin in Germany as well as Swansea in the Championship last season.
He also spent five months in charge of Huddersfield Town, going viral for his post-match interviews and training clips.
Earlier this season, Fotheringham was linked with the Norwich hotseat after it was vacated by Liam Manning and eventually filled by Phillipe Clement.
This kind of interest isn’t a coincidence. The football coaching world is small, and Fotheringham’s familiarity with several leagues will make him a known quantity for many clubs.
Celtic are lucky to have him in his current role, and equally would be daft to let him go, given his well-known personal affinity for the club.
He publicly discussed said affinity after leaving the first time.
I want the next manager of Celtic to be…
Mark Fotheringham on Martin O’Neill at Celtic
Fotheringham told the Scottish Sun shortly after Nancy’s arrival: “Martin won’t tell you this, but I’m going to say it.
“In my mind, he was really up for the challenge of going and winning titles and cups for this club again.
“The more it was going on, the more enthusiastic he was getting. He could easily have carried on for the rest of the season. In fact, he could have done it way beyond it.
“He’d two young people and another two young coaches supporting, with a fantastic staff round him. There’s an incredible staff underneath the manager which supports whoever comes in.
“It’s maybe romantic, but I would have loved to see the gaffer build a team for the future that could go and compete in Europe again.
“When I was a young Celtic player he was taking scalps, beating Ajax, Juventus, getting the team to the Uefa Cup final.
“We knew the board had the plan to bring in a new manager. No problem. But I can’t deny, it would have been brilliant to see the gaffer at least stay for [the Premier Sports Cup final] and leave with a trophy success.”
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