Keith Jackson suspects there’s a plan in place and whoever Dermot Desmond picks for the Parkhead hotseat won’t change it
Wilfried Nancy, head coach of Columbus Crew SC(Image: Getty Images)
Whoever the new Celtic manager is might not matter when it comes to January signings as the club has shown it will recruit at it’s own leisure.
Martin O’Neill‘s interim period could be over by the time Celtic are back in action, or he could be asked to remain behind the wheel for a bit.
Columbus Crew’s Wilfried Nancy is the frontrunner, with outgoing Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen right behind him. Club Brugge’s Nicky Hayen has also been linked.
But when the topic of the January transfer window and what Celtic need – which is a lot – was broached on the latest episode of Record Sport’s Hotline LIVE, our man Keith Jackson isn’t sure the identity of the man in the hotseat will necessarily divert the Hoops’ recruitment department from their own plans.
“The last window was such a bin fire that they really need to get their recruitment right at a difficult point. The January sales are not easily negotiated.
“I might be wrong, but whoever the manager is, do you think it’s going to make any difference to the player Celtic recruit?
“Or have Celtic got a recruitment department which will identify players and just sign them anyway?”
Dermot Desmond watches on from the Celtic Park main stand
The fact the players such as Callum Osmand and Jamai Simpson-Pusey have appeared out of nowhere after not getting a look in under Brendan Rodgers has led to accusations of the ex-boss cutting off his nose to spite his face, all in an attempt to win an argument with his own board.
And Jacko doesn’t think it’s too far-fetched: “I think there might be an element of that. That whatever reason he thought there were players being signed – despite what Dermot Desmond’s wine o’clock statement said – I don’t think he was endorsing.
“He can’t have been endorsing the,, because he was using phrases like club signing and this is an investment signing.
“I some cases with some players, their performance level seems to be slightly better than Brendan Rodgers thought they were of.
“But that’s what I’m saying. It might not matter who the manager is at Celtic, whether it’s Martin O’Neill, Kjetil Knutsen or anybody; I think the recruitment department will work at the recruitment department’s own behest and own pace and Identity players that it feels are appropriate signings.
“That’s what’s led to the fall out and the fact that Brendan Rodgers is no longer there, because he obviously believed that the manager needed to be given more of a say in the identity of the signings that were being made. That’s clear and obvious.”