Bringing back Celtic legend to be manager is a terrible idea

It looks like only a matter of time before Neil Lennon is shown the exit door. The Celtic legend shouldn’t be his replacement.

There is a lot to consider and some key criteria for a manager who can step in, take charge and make a difference with so much emotion out there currently about the situation. We’ll need cool and calm heads to work out the next steps and potential as a replacement.

Talking of emotion, many Celtic fans are struggling to cope with the vitriol and hate being thrown at Lennon. The man has played a very significant role in the club’s history over the years as both player and manager. He deserves a lot of respect surely. There is a difference between recognising his time is up and some of the extraordinary treatment he is subject to.

Previous Celtic managers like Martin O’Neill and Gordon Strachan have been suggested, perhaps they’ve been approached if you believe the media. It’s hard to understand if they’d actually want the role given the current situation and seeing how Lennon is under such pressure. Neither ended their reign as manager as well as they would have liked. And of course we should repeat again the mantra that returning back to old clubs rarely works in football. It’s best avoided.

All of that is why the Celtic board should not be entertaining any thought of reaching out to Henrik Larsson as a way of filling the managerial gap with a fan pleaser, a hero’s return to cheer everyone up. Maybe as one of a coaching team under a top manager, but not as the lead. It’s on someone’s mind though based on recent betting odds.

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It’s very, very hard as a Celtic supporter to say no thanks to Larsson, but it’s very sensible to do so. We could ignore the never go back principle if it’s once as a player and back as a coach or manager. He hasn’t yet fully learnt the role, managed successfully or got a decent track record in management. Maybe he never will, many great players never make it as top managers. It happens.

He’s got a great role with Ronald Koeman at FC Barcelona currently to learn the art. It won’t be without its difficulties. If at some future point Larsson has proved himself then by all means, he could be a great fit. But not yet, not now.

That of course all ties in to the emotional side of things. If Larsson came, managed and struggled it’s almost impossible to think how the Hoops fans would cope. A manager will always be subject to honest criticism of performance, tactics, team selection and more. They would be dispensable if not up to the mark. None of that is a position where fans would want Larsson to be in.