Former Scotland star Steven Naismith has said that current Celtic interim manager, John Kennedy, would be in high demand should he decide to move on when the next Celtic manager is announced.
It is believed that Eddie Howe will be appointed sometime in the near future but there is still uncertainty on where that would leave Kennedy if Howe is allowed to appoint his own backroom staff.
Steven Naismith was speaking on PLZ – The Football Show when he said, “I’d have said when John went into coaching, a lot of the coaching side and management side has now filtered into that director of football. It might be something that he likes and there might be a lot of aspects of it.
“But from the bits I know about John Kennedy, I know that he’d never entertain the job if he never thought he was good enough for it, it’s the first thing. In terms of his coaching, in my time going away with Scotland or speaking to any other boys at Celtic, I’ve not heard one player have a bad word to say about his coaching.
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“Not as a guy, but as his coaching. They seem to like it. He gets the best out of players in the training pitch. That’ll carry a lot of weight. On top of that, there was a time when he was potentially going to Hibs. That’s a pathway in the past that he’s looked to go down.
“If he moves to another club, I think he’d be a high target for a lot of clubs. He ticks a lot of boxes. He’s got a lot of experience at a demanding club. The players seem to like what he does.”
There is no denying that Kennedy is a talented coach and that he is well respected amongst his peers at Celtic Park, but, in my opinion, the best thing for his career, if he has any aspirations on becoming the Celtic manager at any point in the future, would be to take a step out and get experience at another club.
Many coaches, including Brendan Rodgers, speak highly of Kennedy and listening to his press conferences he is a very articulate and positive coach, but trying to sell Kennedy as part of the new regime to the fans will not wash with the supporters at this time as they still hold him partially responsible for the failure of this seasons capaign.
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