The hunt for Ange Postecoglou’s replacement is underway and two managerial candidates in particular, being touted in various quarters, are dividing opinion among the Celtic fan-base.
One is an ex-Celtic manager, who left under the shadow of darkness to pursue his dream of a return to the EPL. The other is an ex-Celtic player, who has managed in the EPL for nearly two decades.
But would any of these two managers appease a Hoops’ support still coming to terms with the shock of Monday’s announcement and the loss of big Ange?
Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers really began to stand out when he guided Swansea City to the Premier League through the Championship play-offs back in 2011.
After keeping them in the Premier League for a season, he was appointed the manager of Liverpool.
His second season at Anfield would be one to remember, although it could have been so much better.
Liverpool enjoyed an incredible 2013/14 campaign under Rodgers and were only three games away from becoming Premier League champions. Unfortunately, the infamous Steven Gerrard slip during the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea would prove extremely costly, handing the advantage to Manchester City who would eventually go on and win the league.
Liverpool scored a whopping 101 goals that season, their highest since 1995/96, leading Rodgers to become the LMA Manager of the Year, the first Liverpool manager to win the award.
Rodgers was in charge of Celtic between 2016-2019. During his time with the club, he won back-to-back domestic trebles while creating an exciting and effective style of play.
He is a tactician, who lives and breathes football and the work he puts into his side is second to none.
Talking to the Currie Club Podcast, former Celtic protégé, Kieran Tierney, recalled his first encounter with Rodgers: “We went into a meeting on the very first day. We had a presentation – ‘This is who I am, this is what I’ve done, this is what I believe, and this is how I want to play’.
“Then he introduced his staff as well with a PowerPoint on what they had done.
“We thought ‘This is the ultimate professional, this will change us as a team’. I also think it helped Scottish football massively as well, him coming in.”
A Celtic State of Mind contributors have been split on whether they would take the former manager back or not.
Kevin McCluskie said: “I wouldn’t have Rodgers back within 100 miles of Celtic Park after the way he left us first time around.”
“He might be a very good coach, but he’s not got the character I want in a Celtic manager.”
Lawrence Connolly, on the other hand, disagreed: “Brendan Rodgers brought a level of domination to domestic trophies that hadn’t been seen before.
“An Invincible season. 7 out of 7 trophies played for in his tenure and he left his team in position to complete the treble treble and the foundation of the quadruple treble squad.”
Under Rodgers, Celtic were dominant, setting a record-breaking 69-game unbeaten run and picking up seven out of a possible seven trophies during his time at Celtic Park.
Many Celtic fans will find it difficult to forgive the actions of a man who should have led us to at least nine titles in-a-row last time round. Would continued success under Rodgers airbrush those memories of betrayal? Time will tell.
David Moyes
Yesterday, Alan McInally revealed how he thought David Moyes was destined for the Celtic job, but there are plenty of Hoops’ fans who will disagree.
The managerial career of Moyes cannot be underestimated. Starting out at struggling Division Two side Preston North End in January 1998, by the December of that same year, Alex Ferguson wanted him as his assistant at Manchester United.
The Scotsman’s performance over four years at Deepdale had him linked with manager’s jobs at Nottingham Forest and Aberdeen, but when he moved it was to replace Walter Smith as manager of Everton, where he stayed for 11 years.
With the resources he had at Everton, Moyes did an incredible job. Top five and six finishes, Europa League ties and their highest Premier League points totals at the time, he even got them into the 2009 FA Cup final where they were ultimately beaten 2-1 by a strong Chelsea side.
In 2013, due to the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United came back for the man they had first approached 15 years previously. Following Ferguson was an impossible task and Moyes lasted under ten months at Old Trafford. He wasn’t alone in failing to bring the ultimate success of a league title back to Manchester United, as five (permanent) managers have failed to do it in the ten seasons since Ferguson’s departure.
Moyes then went on to suffer difficult spells at Real Sociedad and Sunderland. After three unsuccessful tenures for Moyes in management, many fans and pundits thought his bubble had finally burst.
But it was where bubbles are forever blown that he finally found solace, with two successful spells in London with West Ham.
During his second spell at the club, he has guided them to sixth and seventh place finishes, achieving back-to-back European campaigns.
After getting all the way to the Europa League semi-final last season, the Hammers won the Europa Conference League final after defeating Serie A side Fiorentina in Prague.
What Moyes has achieved during this spell with the Hammers is levels above what any other manager has managed at the East London side in recent years.
Talking on Tuesday’s ACSOM Bulletin about who he would have as Celtic’s next manager, Lawrence Connolly said:
“I think David Moyes is definitely in with a shout.
“I look at Moyes and think it protects us from an English club taking him.
“Fergie obviously rates him as a manager and he knows a bit about football. I do think Man United pulled the trigger on him a bit soon.
“He’s in a European final just now, he’s a former Celtic player.
“I know some people are saying his style of football wouldn’t suit, he’d want more physical players in, we’ve actually heard people say that about Ange’s team, sometimes we get bullied a wee bit too much, we need to be a bit more physical.
“Maybe that would build on the good work that Ange has done.”
Many Celtic fans have declared their dismay at the thought of David Moyes becoming the next Celtic manager. This is largely down to the belief that his style of play is negative and the fact that he is often labelled as a dinosaur in football.
Talking on A Celtic State of Mind’s live reaction to the confirmation of Ange leaving the club on Monday morning, Kevin Graham said: “You saw his (Moyes) West Ham side who came up here and handed Ange Postecoglou’s side a new one.
“And they were a team of Essex bouncers, they were all about six foot five, six foot eight, a very very powerful, athletic side.
“Which you do need in the English Premiership, especially if you are down the bottom end, but we haven’t got that at Celtic and I don’t think we need somebody like a firefighter like Moyes coming in.
“Unfortunately for the Moyes fans out there, I don’t think he suits that at this precise moment in time. I don’t think he does.”
This is a common critique of David Moyes’ West Ham side but does it ring true?
West Ham’s starting XI against Celtic in 2021.
Lukasz Fabianski – 6′ 3″
Ryan Fredericks – 5′ 11″
Craig Dawson – 6′ 2″
Angelo Ogbonna – 6′ 3″
Aaron Cresswell – 5′ 7″
Mark Noble – 5′ 11″
Pablo Fornals – 5′ 10″
Manuel Lanzini 5′ 6″
Jarrod Bowen 5′ 9″
Said Benrahma 5′ 8″
Michail Antonio 5′ 11″
Apart from the goalkeeper and the two centre-halves, which you would expect, the rest of the starting XI were under six foot.
Moyes has worked wonders at West Ham, coming in when they were fighting relegation both times and turning things around.
Having won a European trophy this evening, his stock will be at its highest in a considerable length of time. As things stand, it would be foolish to write off the idea of David Moyes becoming the next Celtic manager.
BOBBY GORDON
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