30 Mar 2026 21:00:02
Celtic have had two elite managers in my lifetime. Big Jock and MON. No other boss has faced the strength of opposition they had to overcome. At present we (on the forum) are discussing the merits of Keane, Askou, McKenna etc.
No one comes close to being elite or is ever likely to.
The team needs a complete overhaul and we need a top man to manage them. It's not going to happen folks, is it?
{Ed007's Note - Nah 4LF, you have to throw Rodgers into the mix after managing at the top level in England, maybe not now but when he first came to Celtic he was definitely Elite level and it might stick in a lot of fans craw but WGS for us was pushing into that level with his Euro success on a budget.}
30 Mar 2026 21:26:57
I'd add Ange to the list.
{Ed007's Note - ?????
30 Mar 2026 21:35:30
Apart from jock stein, Ange is the only manager on the list with a European trophy. His team also played great football.
{Ed007's Note - He lost 22 league games with Spurs and finished 17th in the league.
31 Mar 2026 06:11:21
Martin O'Neill was sacked after getting Sunderland into a relegation battle which they would go on to lose. Same happened with Rodgers at Leicester. WGS got Coventry relegated. So using your logic none of them are elite level and I should be laughing at you for suggesting 2 of them?
In fact Ange never got his team relegated but did win a European trophy that season, a feat none of our other managers have managed.
31 Mar 2026 06:39:25
An ange type manager or the 3 mentioned are best we are going to get, Askou shouldn’t be in running imo but suppose he’s best Scottish based option so that’s why ( plays nice football, still comes 4th maybe worse, I’d happily eat my words if he came in and done well ) Keane on face of things seems decent, Ans I’d definitely be able to get behind McKenna, can any ex spurs manager have there spurs record used against them lol, seems spurs is the problem and not the manager,
31 Mar 2026 10:34:34
During my lifetime, Big Jock and MON were the only managers that got us to European finals, although Jock's achievements will never be equaled IMO. I agree about BR being an elite candidate at the time of his first appointment, and his 'Invincible' season will live forever, although his European record was mixed to say the least.
On the other hand, WGS was appointed to follow the legend of MON, with severe financial restraints put in place by Lawell, during the cheating EBT United era and I've always had a lot of respect for his record.
30 Mar 2026 23:31:43
Had a good first Season with Spurs, not so the second but won the Europa League Ed. To be fair as well, his tenure with Spurs was plagued by injuries and a real distaste from the spoon fed over entitled Spurs fans and toxic board members (sound familiar? )
If they had left him in place this Season, I definitely think they'd be in a better position than where they are.
{Ed007's Note - He was that elite nobody had really heard of him before he got the Celtic job, remember tge crowds that greeted MON & Rodgers first appointment? There was none of that for Ange, if winning the EL makes you an elite level coach in your eyes then fine, but an elite coach would have dealt with the injuries and prima donnas without publicly throwing them under the bus - like MON has done for us this year, I've not heard MON blame injuries or players attitudes.
31 Mar 2026 11:32:11
Brenda has never been elite same with with Martin.
31 Mar 2026 11:46:32
WGS was underrated, his European success was better than MON, last 16 CL twice with guys like Caldwell, Mc Manus, Robson, Hartley.
{Ed007's Note - ????
31 Mar 2026 12:29:20
I’ve always said that we had the fittest Celtic team I’ve seen under Strachan.
We totally outplayed Spartak Moscow in Extra time and should’ve scored 4 or 5 goals and thankfully we still won on penalties.
It was also the same in the league cup final against Rangers when we won 2-0 in ET going on 5-0.
31 Mar 2026 13:08:35
Ange is more of an elite manger than Rodgers will ever be.