The Celtic legend recently quit his job as manager of his hometown club, Helsingborgs, after he was verbally insulted by their fans. The Scottish Champions would now do well to bring back the Swede to Celtic Park in a coaching role.
Henrik Larsson spent seven seasons at Celtic scoring 242 goals in just 313 appearances for the Hoops. During his stay at Celtic, Larsson won everything their was to win at the club multiple times over before leaving for FC Barcelona in 2004 where he reached the pinnacle of European football by winning the UEFA Champions League. In his very last appearance for the Catalans, Larsson assisted both of Barcelona’s in a 2-1 win over Arsenal in the Champions League final.
The man is an absolute legend of the sport, there is no question about that, which is what makes it even harder to comprehend why he would be insulted by his own hometown fans. But for some reason his relationship with the club’s supporters has never been great as a manager. Back in 2016, he and his son were attacked by them after they were relegated from the Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football.
While the fans’ disappointment is understandable, there is no excuse for attacking a manager nevertheless a hometown hero. Larsson quit the club at the end of the season but made a surprise return in June of this year for a second stint. But just two months later he decided to quit again on 23rd August after being verbally assaulted by fans on social media following a loss against third tier club, Oskarshamn.
But one’s club loss is another’s gain and the Celtic board should waste no time in bringing back the man who has outscored the likes of Kenny Dalglish and Stevie Chalmers for the Hoops. He would be a great addition to Neil Lennon’s coaching staff. For a man who has achieved so much with the club, it is rather surprising that he has never returned there in any role after retiring as a player. Celtic have been desperately looking for signings in the transfer market but there is no one who would make a bigger impact at the club if he did decide to return.
The opportunity to be coached by the Swede could do wonders for the likes of young strikers like Odsonne Edouard and Vakoun Issouf Bayo. And even his presence in the dressing room would be a huge positive for a team looking to make history by winning 10 Scottish Premiership titles in a row.