A decision is approaching regarding Celtic’s next permanent manager.
Sooner or later, Martin O’Neill is going to have to rule himself in or out of the running, regardless of whether he delivers the title or not.
He will doubtless be a strong contender if he does throw his hat in the ring, whilst Robbie Keane, Jens Berthel Askou and Roberto Martinez are the others at the forefront of the conversation.
But as one of the first outlets to mention Wilfried Nancy last year – and you can thank us for that – 67 Hail Hail examined four wildcard options from elsewhere in Europe, who could be on the club’s radar.
Agree or disagree?
Four wildcard options to be permanent Celtic manager
Marino Pusic
After hopping around Europe as a player, Pusic – a Dutch-Croatian dual-national – managed FC Twente in his first major role in management, promoting to the top-flight by winning the Eerste Divisie.
Bizarrely, he was sacked immediately after achieving this. Shortly after, he joined AZ Alkmaar as an assistant, where he linked up with Arne Slot.
After coming within inches of a Dutch title with AZ, the pair moved to Feyenoord where they did win the Eredivisie, also reaching the final of the Conference League.
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Pusic left Rotterdam in 2023 to become manager of Shakhtar Donetsk, rejecting an offer to join Slot at Liverpool and winning three trophies in two years in Ukraine.
Known for a similarly dominant style of football to Slot, he switched to Al-Jazira in the UAE ahead of this season. He is currently on track to secure their highest league finish in six years.
Inigo Perez
A more ambitious shout is Inigo Perez, whose career was changed by a failed work permit application two-and-a-half years ago.
He assisted Andoni Iraola at Rayo Vallecano, and agreed a deal to follow him to Bournemouth. After Brexit rules denied him the move, the Spanish club gave him the top job eight months later.
He quickly set about continuing Iraola’s legacy of overachieving with energetic, Marcelo Bielsa-inspired football. An eighth-placed finish in his first season secured Conference League participation.
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At the time of writing, Rayo are in the quarter-final of the competition where they will meet AEK Athens. Progression would make this the club’s best-ever European season.
Perez’ name is already being linked with the Crystal Palace job, so Celtic would have to move fast on this one.
Marco Rose
Never too far down on the bookmakers’ odds when a Glasgow club needs a manager is Marco Rose, with whom Celtic first became familiar in the 2018-19 Europa League group stage.
Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops were 2-1 down in a decisive clash with Rose’s RB Salzburg, but a miraculous late goal from Rosenborg’s Tore Reginiussen in the group’s other game sent the Hoops through anyway. Later that month, the Norwegian defender was flooded with Christmas cards from Celtic fans.
Rose bizarrely wore a Celtic hat and scarf in a stadium full of jubilant fans after the game. In his two seasons managing in Austria, he guided them to the semi-finals then the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
He went onto become a mainstay in the Bundesliga with two years at Borussia Monchengladbach, one at Borussia Dortmund and three at RB Leipzig.
Without pulling up any serious trees, he won the DfB Pokal with Leipzig and took them to the knockout rounds of the Champions League. If European pedigree is what Celtic want, Rose is worth a call.
Adrian Siemieniec
This would be the ultimate “hipster’s choice”, which you can’t rule out after the club opted for Nancy…
At the age of 31, Siemieniec became the youngest-ever manager in Poland’s top-flight in 2023, steering Jagiellonia Białystok away from relegation in the final year of the season.
In a remarkable story, he guided the club to their first ever Polish title the following year, understandably being named Manager of the Year in Poland.
He took them to the quarter-final of the Conference League the following year, finishing in third place in the league. This season, they are locked in one of the most dramatic title-races in world football.
Siemieniec’s 4-3-3 uses inverted full-backs Angeball-style – Celtic were linked with their left-back, Bartlomiej Wdowik, as competition for Greg Taylor in 2024.
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