Celtic pundit Russell Boyce has urged the Hoops to appoint Rafael Benitez as their next manager after Neil Lennon.
Boyce was a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Bhoys. One topic of discussion was managers who can potentially replace Lennon at Parkhead. Boyce talked about Benitez and he urged the Hoops to appoint the Spaniard.
Benitez has previously confirmed that Celtic did make an attempt to appoint him as the club’s manager back in 2019 but since he was managing Newcastle United back then, he wasn’t able to consider the offer from the Parkhead-based side (as per The Athletic).
Would hiring Benitez be a masterstroke from Celtic?
Yes
No
Boyce believes that appointing Benitez would be a masterstroke from Celtic and the Spaniard would help the club generate more money than it would take to appoint him.
He said: “I’ve said it before, I would go all out for Benitez, I think he would be the absolute masterstroke. He would be ambitious and I genuinely think he would generate the club more money than he would cost them.
He later said: “I just think, if you think big, big things will happen. You need to speculate to accumulate and you know, I think if we go for someone that you know is going to rock the place, get all the fans onside like a Benitez, I think in the long term, he would actually make the club more money than what he would cost them.”
TIF Thoughts on Boyce’s comments regarding Benitez…
Benitez is currently managing Dalian Pro in China, but he has previously managed big clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter and Napoli. His most recent Premier League experience was at Newcastle United, where he managed for over three years (as per Transfermarkt).
In his managerial career, Benitez has won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, two league titles and he also helped Newcastle win the Championship.
This clearly shows that he has loads of management experience and he knows how to win trophies. Celtic are chasing their tenth title in a row and Benitez’s experience of winning silverware can come in handy. So perhaps, this is the right time for the Hoops to reignite their interest in the Spaniard.