The likelihood of Celtic coach Harry Kewell moving on to become manager at Yokohama F. Marinos seems to increase each day. The Australian has plenty of credentials to make him an ideal replacement for the departing Kevin Muscat at the Japanese club. An appointment is expected soon and the former Liverpool player seems like one of the top candidates for the job.
Kewell was appointed as a coach at Celtic back in 2022 while Ange Postecoglou was manager of the club. He has proved a good appointment and has been credited with helping players such as Daizen Maeda in their development.
There is a strong backroom team at Parkhead with Gavin Strachan, Stevie Woods and John Kennedy supporting Brendan Rodgers with the first-team. Darren O’Dea, Stephen McManus and also Steven Hammell for the B team and academy are all part of the coaching system at the club too. But naturally, if Kewell moves on, the gap will need to be filled.
Speculation is well underway already about who might fill that gap if Kewell did indeed leave. But many of the top nominees being suggested do seem to still leave a gap. The likes of Scott Brown and Kolo Toure have been tipped for the role. That’s alongside Hammell, McManus and O’Dea as possible options to step up from within.
A former forward should replace Harry Kewell at Celtic
Both Brown and Toure are currently available and their connections with the club and Rodgers do make them logical contenders. Kewell though was working with the forwards at Celtic.
Certainly, with a still relatively inexperienced set of forward players, there’s plenty of work left to be done. Players like Luis Palma, Hyun-jun Yang, Liel Abada and Hyeon-gyu Oh to name just a few, would all benefit from a coach with top-level experience of playing in that area of the pitch.
The likes of Brown and Toure would bring plenty of football knowhow, but from a defensive or midfield perspective. Perhaps the team would be better served if a former forward replaced Kewell, in the scenario that he left.