Gordon Strachan (2005-2009)
Gordon Strachan signed for Celtic in 2005, taking over from the then legendary Martin O’Neill. Strachan had big boots to fill as O’Neill was Celtic’s most successful manager since Jock Stein at that time.
The enigmatic Scotsman became a firm favourite with the fans with his quirky media style and his dry wit and humour whenever posed a question he deemed stupid from the media.
Strachan was out of football for 16 months before Celtic came calling and was tasked with wrestling the league title back from their Glasgow rivals. Strachan didn’t have the best start to his Hoops career as he was dealt a humiliating 5-0 defeat in Europe by relatively unknown Slovak side Artmedia Bratislava. He followed this up with a 4-4 draw with Motherwell. Strachan did eventually go onto win the League by 17 points and defeated Dunfermline in the League Cup Final 3-0.
The Scottish Cup was a write off that season with the infamous 2-0 defeat to Clyde on Roy Keane’s debut. The most memorable day in Strachans’ reign was Nakamura’s late free kick at Rugby Park to defeat Kilmarnock and seal the league title.
Strachan brought some supremely talented players to Celtic in his time with Japanese superstar Shunsuke Nakamura the pick of the bunch. Strachan also brought the likes of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink from PSV and Thomas Gravesen from Real Madrid but he also brought in some Scottish talent to balance the dressing room with Kenny Miller, Steven Pressley and Kenny Miller.
Over the course of the four years in charge Strachan brought not only domestic success with three league titles, a Scottish Cup and two league cups but also European triumph’s by progressing to the last 16 in the Champions League two seasons in a row with the most memorable of those victories arguably the 1-0 home win against Manchester Utd with a last minute 30 yard free kick from Nakamura.