Celtic pundit Russell Boyce has discussed the future of the club’s assistant manager John Kennedy.
Boyce appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the ‘A Celtic State of Mind’ podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues involving the Parkhead-based side. One topic of discussion was the managerial situation at Celtic and John Kennedy’s role at Parkhead right now. Boyce believes that there seems to be a lack of chemistry between Kennedy and Neil Lennon.
Is John Kennedy a future Celtic manager?
Yes
No
Kennedy has been at Celtic over the last few years and he has operated in different capacities at the club. He has previously been a scout and an assistant manager at the Under-20s level. He has also managed the club’s Under-19s side in the past, apart from being the assistant manager of the Under-17s (as per Transfermarkt).
Boyce believes that if Kennedy is appointed as the manager of the first-team, the players would buy into his ideas more than they are doing for Lennon.
He said: “I don’t know if he’s maybe got quite a better connection, because he was already part of the coaching setup under Rodgers and I’m not sure if there was much chemistry between John Kennedy and Neil Lennon as is.
“And you might actually find that if Neil Lennon was removed – I’m not pining for this in any way, shape or form, by the way – but if Kennedy was to go in, you might actually see a reaction from the players. I think they perhaps buy into his methodology, but I think they might buy into that more than what they do Neil Lennon.”
TIF Thoughts on John Kennedy…
Lennon has previously praised Kennedy for his abilities and he has also revealed that he once had to talk Kennedy out of potentially taking over at Hibs. Lennon said that Celtic, as a club, mean a lot for Kennedy. The club’s manager also didn’t rule out the possibility of his assistant managing the Hoops in the future.
So while it is unknown how relations are between the two right now, Kennedy seems to have enough of a connection to Celtic already and because of that, it might not be a surprise if the player’s do indeed buy into his ideas.