Over the last few days, it has looked like the Celtic managerial race will come down to two names. Wilfried Nancy of the Columbus Crew appears to be the unexpected frontrunner for the job. Reports suggest that he is highly regarded by Paul Tisdale. On the other hand, Kjetil Knutsen is also believed to be in the running. The majority of the support will probably prefer the latter due to his proven success at the European level.
It might not yet be a two-horse race though. Kieran McKenna of Ipswich Town has also been linked with the Celtic job since the very beginning of the search, once Brendan Rodgers put in his resignation. Those rumours had started to cool down a bit lately, but it has now emerged that it is still a possibility.
As reported by TEAMtalk, McKenna is still prized by the board. Celtic want an interview, but it would cost north of £5 million to bring him in from Ipswich Town in the middle of the season. The manager's recent “here forever” pledge hasn’t cooled internal optimism.
It will probably be tougher to bring in McKenna than the other two mentioned. That being said, it might be too early to count that possibility out completely.
Kieran McKenna to Celtic takes last-minute U-turn
McKenna has done a great job at Ipswich Town. He earned them back-to-back promotions, going from League One to the Premier League. But they could not stay in the top flight and were relegated, and are now back in the Championship.
Of course, that is impressive to say the very least. But Knutsen and Nancy have achieved some impressive things as well.
Finding the right manager is difficult. Just ask the Rangers. But this is a solid trio if you ask us. Let's see where we head next.