It is no secret that Celtic could be looking to bring in a new manager in the summer following a disappointing campaign that saw them lose the Premiership title race to the Rangers with six games to spare despite 10IAR being on the line.
Understandably, the club would be eager to bounce back as quickly as possible. And for that to happen, a new manager might be brought in. A wide variety of names have been linked with the club with regards to the role. Rafa Benitez, Eddie Howe, Chris Wilder, Frank Lampard, Steve Clarke, Roy Keane and many others have been brought up.
Marvin Bartley has an interesting suggestion though in the form of current Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael. While speaking on The Go Radio Football Show he brought up the Frenchman as someone that the Hoops should consider when it comes to appointing their next manager.
The Livingston captain tweeted out the audio clip of him bringing up Ismael even before Barnsley were in the Championship play-offs spot when asked about managers Celtic should be looking at:
"“So a man called Valerien Ismael, he is unbelievable for me.“You know I spoke about Eddie Howe and I’ve played under Eddie Howe but if I was looking a bit further afield and looking at somebody slightly different, it would be him.”"
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Could Ismael be the man for the Celtic job?
Ismael has certainly shown a lot of potential as a manager in a short space of time. After his spell at Wolfsburg lasted less than six months, he managed to find his footing at LASK.
In the club’s first ever appearance in the Europa League, he guided them to the Round of 16 where they would ultimately lose to Manchester United. And after parting ways with the Austrian side, he has impressed immensely in the Championship with Barnsley.
Taking over a side that had finished 21st in the competition last season, he has completely transformed them as they sit at 5th in the table right now. They even performed admirably against Chelsea in the FA Cup in a 1-0 loss and could have beaten Thomas Tuchel’s side if they had taken their chances in front of goal.
Ismael has certainly impressed as a manager over the past couple of seasons. And he would be a very, very interesting option if Celtic do decide to go after him.