Who should take Celtic forward?

Scottish football has seen the biggest shake up in years following Steven Gerrard's Rangers incredible run to the title.

Neil Lennon left his role at Celtic in February with his side 18 points adrift of the now champions. Since then, John Kennedy has taken interim charge of The Hoops, taking five points from three games, including a draw against Rangers.

John Kennedy has been in interim charge since February 24th, and is a favourite for the job.

It's a bit all up in the air from a bookmakers perspective - Kennedy is the current frontrunner for the job on a permanent basis, but who else are Celtic consider? Is there anyone not being considered who ought to be?

(All odds quoted below are accurate of Sky Bet on 23/03/2021, and of course are subject to change)

Who is being considered?

Who is the man to de-throne Gerrard? I suppose that question should be followed by a few others - the most important of which is how big a task do the Celtic board view it as?

A 20-point gap would suggest that serious work is required, and as such, long-term successors with histories of undertaking large-scale rebuilds are in the frame.

Both John Kennedy and dark horse Enzo Maresca lead the race to become the next Celtic manager in the eyes of the bookies, each with 7/4 odds. As Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has proven, never count out the interim manager - Kennedy could well snatch this job from underneath the rest of the candidates' feet.

Enzo Maresca is one of the favourites for the Celtic job.

Maresca is a left-field option - totally unproven at a senior management level, and despite his impressive youth development CV at Manchester City, I'm not sure he is what Celtic need right now.

What they do need is a proven manager with an understanding of the difficult balance between short-term results and long-term aspirations - something they got perfectly right when hiring Brendan Rodgers.

Roy Keane is third favourite at 6/1 - a man who knows the club well, having spent six months there before his retirement in 2006. He certainly has the mentality required to get the club back on track, but again lacks the CV to match the opportunity.

Roy Keane knows Celtic well, having supported the club as a boy and spending the final six months of his career there.

I certainly wouldn't be shocked to see Keane in the dugout at Celtic Park, but don't expect it. I'd love to see what team he'd assemble around him if he did get the job - although I don't expect Micah Richards to take up the role of kit man kindly offered by Keane on Sky Sports recently!

Who should they be looking at?

My two favourite options are relative outsiders in Eddie Howe (14/1) and Chris Wilder (13/2). Both of these men brought their clubs from the depths of English football to the pinnacle - make no mistake about it, Celtic are in the lowest place they have been for well over a decade.

Eddie Howe has been out of work since leaving Bournemouth in August 2020.

Both made mature decisions to step away for the good of their clubs and their own reputations. Under them, Bournemouth and Sheffield United played some incredible football - earning the fondness of much of the footballing world.

Wilder's overlapping centre-backs wowed genius tacticians like Pep Guardiola, and Howe's insistence of intense pressing would any side well.

Both managers place a real emphasis on working as a team - this is perhaps the most important thing for Celtic to improve upon if they have any chance of catching Rangers next season. Individual brilliance has its place for each of them, but the badge on the front of the shirt is far more important than the name on the back.

Wilder is rightly being considered, although leaving Sheffield United will still be very fresh in his mind.

My only concern is how translatable this is to Celtic - you must remember, both of these men had history with their clubs. Wilder and Howe supported, played for and managed their boyhood clubs, begging the question - will their methods work in a club that they don't have such close affiliations with?

These will be the concerns of the Celtic board, who have a history of trusting who and what they know, over pushing the boat out (hence the re-appointment of Neil Lennon, and the current odds placing Kennedy as the favourite). However, Howe and Wilder are professionals - I'd be gutted if they were not being considered because of these concerns.

If I had to pick one, it would be Howe. He's had a bit of time away, and another youthful managerial face to Scottish football would do it some real good, as it has with Gerrard. He knows how to build a team from the bottom-up, which is exactly what Celtic need.

Rangers will look to re-assert their dominance next season, it is up to Celtic's board to put the right man in charge to oppose him.

The bookies always seem to have the inside track on these things, and it looks as if it is going to be the permanent appointment of Kennedy or the gamble on Maresca. This seems a shame to me - if you are going to gamble, there are safer bets in the form of Howe and Wilder.