A new day represents a new story in the hunt for Celtic’s next manager. Neil Lennon left three weeks ago and the Bhoys are still yet to find a successor.
What’s the word?
One of the managers linked with the vacant hot seat is American Jesse Marsch.
The 47-year-old is currently in charge of Red Bull Salzburg in Austria but in a fresh twist, has recently opened up on the idea of taking charge of the Hoops.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Marsch said: “I’ve heard [about the links]. It’s an honour for me.
“Three or four years ago, being linked with a club like Celtic would literally be an impossibility for me. And now that this is where I am, I always just try to look at it in terms of, ‘what would the project look like?”
Do you want Jesse Marsch at Celtic?
Yes please
No thanks
Marsch continued: “Would we have similar ideas in how to build it the right way, invest in the academy, invest in young players and create this development process that I’m talking about? And not just focus on winning.
“Obviously I know that when you’re the coach of Celtic, winning is the most important thing,” he concluded.
Desmond must be buzzing
News that Marsch is appealed by the Hoops vacancy should be music to the ears of majority shareholder Dermot Desmond and the club’s supporters.
The Salzburg boss is far from a household name but he’s achieved incredible things in his short coaching career to date.
The American was formerly Leipzig’s assistant and has now swapped German shores for Austrian ones. He has played a leading role in Erling Haaland’s progression and as manager of Salzburg, gave Liverpool a run for their money in the Champions League, suffering a 4-3 defeat at Anfield.
Marsch has lost just 16 of his 82 matches as Salzburg manager; a win success of 65%. With that in mind, it’s hard to ignore these quotes.
He’s already been talked up for the manager’s job, specifically by Packie Bonner, someone who claimed Marsch was in the mould of a certain Brendan Rodgers.
The 47-year-old is a manager who thinks outside the box, and regularly gets his teams to play with a relentless press. He is very much a person bred from the Ralf Rangnick school of how to coach football.
Unique in his approach, he’d certainly bring a different type of style and thought process to Parkhead than Lennon.
This can only be a good thing; he’d be an astute capture if Celtic can capitalise on his interest. Hoops fans should have every reason to be excited.
AND in other news, Celtic must ruthlessly axe £15k-p/w flop this summer, Lennon once called him “stupid”…