‘Bitter’, ‘Cheated’ – Dunne on Why Celtic Must Avoid Managerial Appointment

RICHARD DUNNE has added his own reason for Celtic not going for Thierry Henry as their next manager.

Let’s just be clear, there’s no sign that the club is about to enter into talks with the former Arsenal and Barcelona striker. All rumours stem from Thierry praising Celtic and not ruling out the possibility of being the manager.

I’ve not ruled out the possibility of becoming the Celtic manager but you can be 100% sure I’m not getting it.

Dunne was asked about the tenuous link by RecordSport and rather than say Thierry would be a bad manager because his win rate for both Monaco and Montreal were awful, he chose a different tact.

“Celtic obviously have a huge Irish fanbase and they are still bitter over what Thierry Henry did in because you don’t get any bigger than playing in the World Cup.

“And it’s hard to take when you’re cheated out of it with a handball as opposed to being beaten by the better team over the two legs so that’s why the supporters have always been very unhappy and the players as you get few chances to get to World Cups.

“Only the owners can say whether they would take what happened previously with Ireland into consideration and if that’s justification for him not to get the job.

“Owners of football clubs have to make the right choice for them and believe the person they’re bringing in is the one who can make a change.

“But it’s a bit like bringing in a player. You can do all the homework you can, see what they’re like as individuals and speak to people who know them but you won’t know until they’re in the job and doing it.

“Thierry has gone for other jobs – he was in for the Bournemouth job and that didn’t work out – and he is someone who obviously had a great career as a player but I wouldn’t know about his strengths and weaknesses as a manager.

“He’s obviously trying to get back into the game and we wish him every success and it’s up to the Celtic board to make the decision and they’ll do it based on the best man for the job.”

This never entered my thinking as a Scotsman, but I would be curious to know how many of our Irish fans would be bothered by this if Henry did ever get the Celtic job.

The Frenchman clearly cheated Ireland and it was a major story at the time.

There’s no such thing as ‘forgive and forget’ when a player turns into the biggest villain within a country – just ask the English about Diego Maradonna.

Thankfully our Irish fans have nothing to worry about, unless they fear a Roy Keane appointment, then perhaps they should be a little apprehensive.