Roberto Martinez has spent most of the last eight weeks as the bookmaker’s favourite to be the next permanent Celtic manager.
He has now been overtaken by Jens Berthel Askou, but remains one of the names being talked about as doubts persist over the likelihood of Martin O’Neill staying permanently.
On paper, it makes plenty of sense. Martinez has a Scottish wife whom he met while playing at Motherwell. He is known for a positive brand of football, has plenty of pedigree in the game and a pre-existing working relationship with Hoops assistant Shaun Maloney.
The reality, however, is that Martinez is a non-starter as a candidate.
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Roberto Martinez won’t be Celtic’s next manager
Martinez has been an international manager for a decade now, firstly with Belgium and now at Portugal.
In a desperately poor showing, his Belgium side were eliminated in the group stage of the last World Cup in Qatar – it was, therefore, pretty surprising when he was handed the reins by Portugal.
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His present role makes a move to Celtic this summer extremely complicated.
Should he perform as expected in North America this summer, he will be at the tournament well into July. Given the magnitude of a rebuild pending for the Hoops, this simply can’t be the way to go.
Martinez’s contract with the Portuguese FA will expire after the tournament, with Jose Mourinho expected to succeed him – but managers moving straight into clubs after major tournaments is rare.
Just ask Julen Lopetegui, who was literally in Russia for the World Cup in 2018 when he was sacked by the Spanish FA for agreeing a pre-contract with Real Madrid.
Unless Martinez fancies giving up the opportunity to lead Cristiano Ronaldo into his last World Cup for a few pre-season friendlies against Scottish Championship clubs, he could very possibly be unavailable until early August.
Celtic won’t be his only offer, either. Recent reports have linked him with the vacancies at Manchester United and Crystal Palace in the Premier League, while he also has historic interest from Saudi Arabia.
Those are just a few reasons why Celtic will be looking elsewhere – but who should they look to instead?
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Celtic’s next manager candidates
It’s understandable to see Askou the current frontrunner, but there are legitimate concerns that he may opt to stay at Motherwell this summer – regardless, he should be on Celtic’s shortlist.
Craig Bellamy is admired by Celtic, but depending on the results of the World Cup play-offs later this month, the Wales boss faces a similar delay in availability.
Don’t rule out Robbie Keane, either. Dermot Desmond’s word goes, and his affinity for Keane is well-known.
Sadly, we know that it won’t be Ange Postecoglou making his return, after he publicly stated that he “doesn’t go back”.
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