Shaun Maloney was a very good Celtic player. Not a legend, but good player all the same.
Starting at Celtic at youth level, Maloney went on to make 104 appearances in his first spell at the club scoring 26 goals and picking up five league titles and two league cups.
He was also part of the Martin O’Neill team that reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2003.
He eventually left the Hoops in 2007 in a £1m deal to Aston Villa where he spent just over a season with the midlands club before returning to the Hoops for £3m in 2008 for his second spell and picked up another League cup winners medal.
A glittering Celtic career indeed and when he hung up his boots in 2017 he took up the Assistant Managers position with Belgium before eventually finding his first managerial job at Hibs.
Things started off promising enough but after a terrible run where his side picked up one win in fifteen, knocked out of the Scottish Cup against Hearts and finished outside the top six, Maloney was eventually let go after just four months in charge.
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton angrily reacted to the sacking on Twitter when he posted, “This is ridiculous. He’s hardly been in the door 5 minutes… what message does this send to young aspiring coaches??”
Maloney’s dismissal does seem harsh considering he had to deal with major injury issues and the sale of his top striker in the last window without a real opportunity to get in his own personnel to stamp his authority on the side.
Could there be an opening at Celtic for the talented coach under Ange Postecoglou?
That would certainly be an interesting move if the Celtic boss was of a mind to add to his backroom team.