Celtic have shown a bit of forward thinking by installing Ronny Deila as the new manager of Celtic. A fresh faced coach with new ideas and a philosophy that will go down well at Lennoxtown. But while the manager vacancy has been resolved there is still one big appointment still to come before next season can really start taking shape and that is the Assistant managers role.
While this is sometimes an after thought by some of the fans, with the appointment of Deila, a man who hasn’t been versed in the way of Celtic throughout his career it is of the upmost importance that he and the club pick a man who has.
Now before anyone starts moaning that it’s not imperative that we have a “Celtic minded” coaching team, I agree, it’s not imperative but it would go a long way in helping Ronny to settle in and get to grips with the challenge ahead.
Someone who has not been too far from the club with positive coaching credentials will be a great asset to Ronny and the club as a whole.
Deila confirmed John Collins is in the mix to partner him on the side-lines next season, the former Scotland international and Celtic player would certainly be able to help the team going forward. There are others though that could make a similar impact, even some who are already on the payroll at the club. One man that springs to mind is John Kennedy, a man who has been at the club since an early age as a player and now as a coach after a terrible injury ruined his career. He and Stevie Frail have been working with the youths over the past few seasons and have had great success in the process. With Deila keen on bringing youth players on it would be advantageous if Kennedy was his right hand man. However some may argue that it would be a shame to take John Kennedy out of the youth set up when he is doing such a great job.
Another choice and a popular one at that would be Henrik Larsson coming in as number 2. While he is not ready for the top job itself it could be said that bringing him as number 2 would be on the job training for when Deila’s time comes to an end. The Celtic legend is still currently under contract to November however so Celtic would need to wait if they did want him back at the club.
You’re never going to run out of good Celtic men who could do the club a great turn and I’m sure whoever is chosen to help Ronny will be efficient and effective.
