OWEN COYLE told the Huddle Podcast on Tuesday afternoon he knows for a fact Neil Lennon was rebuffed when asked about bringing in his own men to the coaching and scouting staff.
If you’ve been paying attention, we have been posting for months about the lack of autonomy the former Celtic boss had when it came to the people who were around him on a daily basis.
Most top managers get to pick their staff and have men around them who they trust implicitly. From the off, Neil wasn’t allowed to bring in former coaches he had with him at other clubs, most specifically Garry Parker.
Coyle admits there are some great coaches at Celtic but they weren’t Neil Lennon’s men and that was a problem.
He said on the podcast: “I think there’s good people at the club, there’s good staff there, but they’re not Neil’s staff. I know for a fact Neil had asked for different people to be able to come in and help him, it never transpired.
“I think Neil needed that. No harm to the boys out there, they’re good people, good in their own right. But when you’re working with someone, sometimes you don’t have to say anything because you know already what their thoughts are.”
For anyone wondering who did pick them, it was clearly a Peter Lawwell decision. A chief executive who should not be influencing the football side of things in such a manner. It’s something that has irked the support. Roy Keane was famously told he couldn’t pick his own assistant manager and bowed out of the race back when Neil Lennon left the club as manager the first time. Ronny Deila was given John Collins while Brendan Rodgers demanded his whole team, not just coaching staff, and got it.
Coyle has managed at a good level and once turned down the Celtic job over a decade ago when his stock was high down south.
“Most top managers get to pick their staff…”
And that’s why Lennon didn’t get to..