Neil Lennon was always going to cast a long shadow over Celtic Park.
And unfortunately it appears that if Roy Keane is the man who steps out from under it, there will be snide accusations of it being a purely “Box Office” appointment ringing in his ears.
Given that putting bums on seats is such an issue for Celtic these days, I understand why people are making that argument. And given Roy’s managerial record, which certainly contains a few question marks, suspicions have been heightened.
But for me it’s a deeply unfair suggestion. It implies a belief at Celtic Park that attracting crowds is a bigger priority than winning things on the pitch.
As much as appointing Keane would trigger an initial surge of interest, as time wears on, one thing alone will dictate whether the punters stick around Champions League football.
THAT is the most important thing for those in charge at Parkhead because, with the greatest of respect to Roy, Celtic will win the Premiership next season whoever is in charge.
In that sense, Lenny will be a seriously hard act to follow. In the last two of his three full seasons at Celtic Park, Neil ensured his team qualified for the lucrative group stages.
And having masterminded progression to the knock-out phase two years ago, even the slightest trip by his successor will appear calamitous.
Keane’s emergence as front-runner has raised eyebrows for that very reason. It’s impossible to dress up the Irishman’s spell in charge at Ipswich as anything other than disappointing.
On the park, his team was inconsistent at best, finishing 15th in the Championship in his only full season. When he was sacked five months into the following campaign, my old club was 19th. At one point they had been even lower.
Off the pitch, things were just as tumultuous. I’m told Keane was pretty deep and dark at Portman Road.
No-one at the club really knew him because he wouldn’t let anybody get close. There’s nothing wrong with that, as such, but for a football manager, it can easily become a problem, especially when players have problems or things they want to talk about.
Roy’s not an approachable guy in that respect, but I wouldn’t write him off because what he did at Sunderland is not to be sniffed at.
He took that club from the bottom of the Championship to the Premier League in the space of a season then kept them up.
If Roy turns out to be the man for the Hoops, THAT is what will get him the job, not whether he can shift a few extra season tickets.
Having Martin O’Neill in his corner isn’t going to hurt either, and the Ireland manager has been nothing but complimentary about Keane since giving him a job as his assistant.
O’Neill has also backed Lennon to make a success of himself in England now his time at Celtic Park is over. It won’t surprise me to see Lenny do exactly that. But the reality is that his journey will have to start at a far smaller club than Celtic.
In taking a chance on getting a job in England, Neil has ruled himself out of leading a team to the Champions League for the foreseeable future.
In a sense, he’s taking a step back to move forward.
If Roy Keane takes the reins at Celtic Park, backwards steps are not a luxury he will be afforded.
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