On the latest episode of Football Daily’s Sunday Vibes, Patrick van Straaten has claimed Celtic ‘can do better’ and ‘can be smarter’ than appointing Jose Mourinho as manager.
The former Tottenham Hotspur boss was relieved of his duties by Spurs chairman Daniel Levy after a three-game winless run left the north London outfit sitting in seventh place in the Premier League table.
Mourinho’s dismissal has seen him linked with the vacant managerial role at Celtic Park, who are still searching for Neil Lennon’s long-term successor.
However, Van Straaten has warned the Glasgow giants against approaching the 58-year-old after unsuccessful stints in his last two jobs at Manchester United and Tottenham.
He said: “As a team like Celtic, you can make an argument based on Mourinho’s past. So, you can say okay, well, when Mourinho was at Real Madrid – and he did have superior talent – they were a really fun attacking side actually, and he’s previously had a good record in knockout competition.
“So that kind of works quite well for doing well domestically and maybe overachieving in Europe; you could see that argument for Celtic.
“But the time when he did those things is getting further and further away and when you factor in how much money Celtic would have to raise to pay him his wages – Celtic can do better and they can be smarter.”
TIF Thoughts on Mourinho to Celtic…
Tottenham reportedly had to pay Mourinho £15m following his premature exit from north London, and for a club like Celtic, that is an astronomical fee.
Younger, arguably more exciting, and ultimately cheaper alternatives such as Eddie Howe, Chris Wilder and Jesse Marsch have been linked to the opening at Parkhead, and the former Scottish champions may be tempted to go down that route instead for obvious reasons.
There’s no doubt that Mourinho will go down as one of football’s greatest ever managers given his past achievements in the game, but whether he has the ability or the appetite to guide Celtic back to domestic and European glory is very much up for debate.
In other news: ‘Needs to sort his attitude’, ‘Yesss’ – Many Celtic fans urge club to keep potential ‘victim’