Former Celtic player Craig Burley has said that Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke should be the man to replace Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead.
Clarke has enjoyed a tremendous 2018 with Killie, winning more points than any other Scottish Premiership team in the calendar year, and he has his side firmly in the title race at the halfway stage of the campaign.
Burley has been seriously impressed: “The story of 2018 for me is what Steve Clarke has done with Kilmarnock,” he told the Herald. “Clarkey is surely the leading candidate if Brendan left any time soon.
“He comes across as dour but he has a dry sense of humour. And he can cut you. Celtic should still win it [Scottish Premiership] but there are others, and I include Kilmarnock, who will fancy themselves.”
OPINION
Celtic could certainly do a lot worse than Clarke, that’s for sure. The former West Bromwich Albion boss has worked wonders at Rugby Park and his team are firmly in the Scottish Premiership title race. Who saw that coming at the start of the season? He’s got Killie punching above their weight so imagine what he could achieve with the resources on offer at Celtic. Whether he’s the leading candidate to replace Rodgers is open to interpretation, but he’d certainly be on the shortlist at this point. There aren’t many other managers in Scotland who are really pressing their claims as future Hoops managers – Clarke is one of the few. Perhaps the Celtic job would be too big for him, he did fizzle out with the Baggies, but he looks like a fine candidate at this moment in time. Only time will tell whether he ever gets a sniff of the Parkhead dugout, but it’s fun to consider who could succeed Rodgers when the Northern Irishman eventually moves on.