Tony Watt believes Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham are a major reason why Martin O’Neill should remain in charge of Celtic.
Speaking on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, the former Celtic striker backed the reported decision to keep O’Neill at the club following the end of his interim spell.
The pair have been heavily involved in Celtic’s turnaround over recent months, helping the club recover from a difficult position to secure both the Premiership title and the Scottish Cup.
Watt believes their presence strengthens O’Neill’s case for staying on.
He said: “I think the fact that he’s doing the year speaks a lot about his drive and motivation.
“I think he’s probably the right candidate at the moment; I think having (Shaun) Maloney and Mark Fotheringham is big.
“Maloney’s probably a Celtic legend, or if not, a big figure in the recent past.
“Fotheringham, by all accounts — you hear a lot through the grapevine in football — is a very, very good coach, the boys love him.
“I think, regardless, he should’ve been kept on as a coach somewhere along the line, I think Maloney would’ve been up in the boardroom, sporting director level.
“So I think Martin O’Neill’s the right choice at the moment, I think the stability’s a good thing at the moment after what happened with Nancy. I keep going back to it.
“But now, what I would like to see is Martin O’Neill getting free reign on the signings. Go and sign players who will make Celtic better.
“Martin O’Neill, knows a player or two, given his recent past. His history at Celtic, but his history all over.
“The only thing I will repeat: it doesn’t shine well, the last ten days, on the board and Dermot Desmond.
“Because it’s [taken] for fans to protest for Robbie Keane for him not to get the job. Let’s be honest, he was getting the job.
“I think the fans protesting, we [saw] it last night, it stopped him getting the job, and the backup — which is quite disrespectful to Martin O’Neill, who should’ve been given the job if he wanted it — was Martin O’Neill.”
Fotheringham’s reputation as a coach has grown steadily in recent years, and Watt’s comments suggest that view is shared by many within football.
However, if the current coaching structure remains in place, Celtic would be retaining a group that delivered results when the pressure was greatest.
For Watt, that continuity matters. He sees O’Neill as the right man for the job, but he also believes the figures working alongside him deserve plenty of credit for Celtic’s successful finish to the season.
Keep Reading
One Response
yes its the three off them one man cant do it all clubs to big coaching staf do the ground work all week on match day manager gets involved its team work and they all done there job not to forget the tecnical side strachan goalkeeping coach what a last six games video will sell well