BBC Sportsound pundit Tam McManus has urged Celtic to hire Steve Clarke as their next manager.
Clarke, 55, has done a wonderful job in the last season and a half at Kilmarnock and is currently close to sealing a third-placed finish with the Ayrshire club despite teams below them in the Scottish Premeirship having more money to spend.
Ex-Hibernian player McManus is clearly a massive fan for the former West Brom manager and he reckons that Peter Lawwell needs to try and hire him as Brendan Rodgers’ permanent successor once the season is over.
“What he has achieved at Killie has been nothing short of remarkable as he has turned a club who nearly dropped out the league altogether three seasons ago, into a side battling at the top end of the table and finishing above both Edinburgh clubs and possibly even Aberdeen who have far bigger budgets,” McManus said on the Football Scotland website.
“Without spending a penny.
“All of which leads me nicely on to my next point. I firmly believe that Stevie Clarke should be the next manager of Celtic.”
McManus added: “Stevie is a self confessed Celtic fan but more crucially he knows the league and players in Scotland inside out. He gets Celtic and the expectations at the club.”
OPINION
Clarke would be an excellent choice as the next Celtic manager, but not just because he is a boyhood Bhoy. Clarke has achieved a lot in quite a short managerial career having led West Brom to their highest-ever finish in the Premier League. He also led Reading to their first FA Cup semi-final in 88 years and his work at Kilmarnock goes without saying. As good a manager that Clarke is, Celtic might not want to approach the Killie boss. He might not be a popular appointment among fans and there could be an emphasis on trying to hire someone who has experience in European football. Celtic have done great in the last few years but consistently fell short in the Champions League and Europa League with Rodgers at the helm. Neil Lennon, who is interim boss for the next few weeks, has a better record with the Bhoys in Europe, but that doesn’t mean they’ll hire him. It seems that there are multiple directions that Celtic could go in with their next manager.