Picking the new manager

Celtic will appoint their 17th permanent manager following the departure of Ronny Deila this summer. It’s a job that should appeal far and wide to a number of candidates. All but the elite and perhaps the level below the elite managers should consider the position.

As a manager, you have a genuine chance of silverware. You will have the opportunity to qualify for the Champions League. You have a budget beyond that of your nearest rivals. You have a squad packed with internationalists and with that a squad which should be able to play any conceivable formation. You have a few up and coming players, and in particular, Kieran Tierney.

But with all that comes the weight of expectation and failure to deliver at least a league title will result in dismissal unless exceptional circumstances emerge, like a Seville-esque European run. In terms of Europe, the inability to hit the ground running and make the Champions League casts early doubts on your ability and while the squad is packed with internationals, it is also packed with dead wood, a process which might be a long and arduous, not to mention financially draining.

While the name and reputation of the incoming coach is crucial to carry favour with fans and claim instant respect amongst the players, to me it may not be the defining element in manager 17 being the answer to continue the domination of Scottish football.

Looking back at Ronny’s reign, it’s summed up as an experiment in development. We took an unknown quantity and seen if he could add his philosophy to the high demands of being the Celtic manager he had one year to get it before Rangers returned, but as history now shows they failed and had another year to up the ante. The aim must have been similar to the transfer theories that have worked well for Celtic, like Van Dijk and Wanyama, admirable service is given as they developed their potential and blossomed into players who look capable of achieving the level required in the Scottish league, maybe even exceeding them. Somewhere between January 2015 and the Champions League qualifiers for the 2015-16, he seemed to be putting something together after a stop-start beginning to his reign. From that point till now, as stated by the manager himself, there has been little progress.

So, what has the new chief got to do to restart progress at Celtic Park?

The new guy needs to have control. I am not in the camp that suggests Ronny was a puppet but his lack of kudos and eagerness to join Celtic could have seen him make compromises.

Perhaps the most debated one was the appointment of John Collins and John Kennedy as his assistants, rather than his own choice. I will always say, he took them and as manager, you live and die by such decisions, an inexperienced coach or not, Ronny should not have agreed unless he was happy to hitch his wagon to the pair. For those that say Deila and Collins showed a lack of success in arranged coaching marriages by boardroom level high-rollers then to balance the argument, Jansen and Macleod?

Whatever the arrangement, the incoming incumbent must have nothing but faith in his backroom team, who he wants is who should be got, if that’s not possible then it needs to be as close to his satisfaction as possible.

He needs to be handed the scalpel in absolute confidence to rebuild the squad by the board and fans. Even if it means we wave goodbye to beloved players, good players, players with potential, those at a cross road or those we’d all enthusiastically pay the taxi for their departure. We have an overblown squad of midfielders, a reasonable pool number wise of defenders with debatable quality maybe a bit shy of decent right back cover and bare thin in the striking department, with Griffiths being the exception to a poor collection of inadequate target men type players.

The new guy faces quite a task evaluating his squad, on top of those currently as Celtic Park, there are five players of first team calibre out on loan, can we get something out of them? Can Stefan Scepović or Nadir Ciftci add an option that could save us a few bob by proving themselves? Would it be wise to be quick to dismiss Anthony Stokes’ Celtic career when his two loanee club mates along with Kazim-Richards and Cole have nowhere near his proven record at Paradise? What is to become of Fisher and Henderson, two younger players I have liked and thought there is talent there worth giving more game time too. And what about beneath the first team, is there another Tierney amongst the crop just needing a chance?

Perhaps when it comes to the point of money and transfers, the chat that gets fans dreaming, maybe the realisation might be, like Derk Boerrigter, we might need to lose a significant percentage of money to move the unwanted out.

A trait every good manager has to have is man management, how to get the best from the majority but maybe bending the philosophy to extract it from one or two individuals. The case this year of Kris Commons is the biggest head scratcher to most fans. Is he that bad in training? Does his record not put him in a greater better stead to gain a start? A story told by Sir Alex Ferguson about the enigmatic Eric Cantona turning up to a shirt and tie event in sandals and shirt, saw many of his younger charges thought Cantona was getting the infamous hairdryer treatment at the next opportunity, instead Ferguson turned to boys and said if you play like him then you can do what you want. That must surely be the philosophy that transcends onto the park when it comes to talented players, that you may bend the expectations, in Commons’ case, on his defensive endeavours and focus on what he brings in other areas. Maybe asking others to do more donkey work.

Whoever it is, an intriguing time lies ahead for everyone. As supporters all we can do is support. The board needs to meet as many demands that are attainable to the top candidate. The candidate needs to have the courage in his own ability, and the backing of everyone else to remould the club in his image.