Suggestions linking Celtic with unsuitable managerial candidates appear every summer, but Chris Waddle may have produced one of the strangest yet.
The former England winger has claimed Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom would be “a very good fit” for Celtic despite the English side finishing well outside the Championship playoff places and the manager having no European experience whatsoever.
It is the kind of argument that completely ignores the scale, pressure and expectation attached to the Celtic job and proves Waddle knows nothing about the Parkhead club.
Give us your gut feeling after the cup final… will Martin O’Neill be Celtic manager next season?
Chris Waddle’s foolish Heckingbottom to Celtic push
As far as Celtic managerial candidates go, Waddle has embarrassed himself with his Heckingbottom pitch.
Speaking about Heckingbottom, Waddle told BOYLE Sports, “Paul Heckingbottom is a very good manager, a very good coach and a very good fit for Celtic. I think he’s very underrated. He’s done a great job at Preston North End working with a really small budget.
“He gets good loans in, and the way he plays gets the most out of his players. If he could bring in three or four good players he could take Preston into the playoffs quite easily but will he be allowed to do that?
“I think he’ll eventually end up getting the sack because the club will think we’re not going anywhere but you can only go as far as your budget allows and let’s be honest, Preston’s budget is not massive.
“There’ll be a lot of clubs watching how things develop. He’s done a good job at Preston and there’ll be other clubs interested.
“Celtic should be looking at him because he works with a small budget, gets good players in and gets the most out of his squad. I think he plays nice football too. Preston are well-organised, well-drilled and he’s an open-minded coach. I think he could do well at a bigger club but I’m not saying he should leave Preston.
“Preston just need to let him bring in three or four really good players for that level and I think they would be a team that makes it into the playoffs next season.”
Yeah, Celtic should go in for a manager who is on the brink of getting sacked for being a failure. Nice one, Chris.
Celtic require far more than what Paul Heckingbottom has shown
There is nothing wrong with being a solid Championship manager. Heckingbottom has done respectable work at Preston and clearly knows how to operate within financial limitations.
But managing Celtic is an entirely different world.
The expectation at Parkhead is brutal. Winning the Scottish Premiership is the bare minimum. Domestic trophies are demanded almost every season and Champions League football carries enormous pressure both financially and competitively.
Meanwhile, Preston finished 14th in the Championship and missed the playoffs comfortably.
That is not evidence somebody is ready to lead Celtic.
Celtic should ignore this bizarre Chris Waddle suggestion
The biggest flaw in Waddle’s argument is that it almost entirely revolves around Heckingbottom doing reasonably well with a small budget.
Celtic are not searching for a manager capable of steady mid-table overachievement. They need somebody capable of handling huge pressure, delivering trophies consistently and competing in Europe.
Heckingbottom also has no European managerial experience and his previous spell in Scottish football at Hibernian ended badly.
There are also no credible reports linking Celtic with Heckingbottom beyond Waddle’s own comments.
This feels less like serious analysis and more like another example of people outside Scotland failing to understand the level Celtic are operating at.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
