Celtic are being linked with a move for Jose Mourinho.
Pundit John Hartson has told the Glasgow Evening Times that he still thinks Neil Lennon is the best man for the Celtic job despite links to Jose Mourinho.
Celtic won their eighth straight league title on Saturday, beating Aberdeen 3-0 at Pittodrie thanks to goals from Mikael Lustig, Jozo Simunovic and Odsonne Edouard.
The Bhoys now have a big summer ahead, especially with so many players out of contract and, of course, a managerial decision to make.
Neil Lennon is still the interim manager having returned to Parkhead in February, replacing Brendan Rodgers until the end of the season following his move to Leicester City.
Winning the title will do his chances the world of good, even though much of the work had been done by Rodgers, and Lennon could yet clinch the Scottish Cup too.
Intriguingly though, a shock rumour emerged on Sunday, with Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio reporting that Celtic have made a bold offer to ex-Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
Now, pundit John Hartson thinks that Mourinho would need huge financial backing to take the job, comparing the situation to when Celtic hired Martin O’Neill and he splashed the cash on new signings to fund great success.
Hartson added that he believes a lot of fans won’t ever forgive Mourinho for being an ‘absolute disgrace’ as Porto manager against Celtic in the 2003 UEFA Cup final, and maintains that Lennon is the best man for the job right now, as he can take Celtic forward.
“The two big questions I would have is how much wages he would command, and how much money would he have to spend?” said Hartson. “Are Celtic in a position to throw 50 or 60 million at Mourinho when you factor in wages for him and his staff, and the players he would want to bring in to take Celtic to that next level in terms of competing better in Europe? If you were going to appoint Mourinho, you would have to back that up by giving him the tools. Celtic haven’t done anything near that for 20 years, when they brought Martin O’Neill in and gave him an open cheque-book to bring in players such as myself, Alan Thompson, Chris Sutton and Neil. But he brought great success to the football club.”
“A lot of fans will never forgive Mourinho for the way Porto behaved against Celtic in the UEFA Cup Final. He was enticing his players to dive down under no pressure and waste time. It was an absolute disgrace. I don’t know the man, all I know is that he has been extremely successful throughout his career. But he comes with a lot of baggage as well. While Celtic fans might be getting excited though, it’s not as if Neil would just be a safe pair of hands either. I genuinely do think he could take us forward given the funds and the support. Until I hear it out of the horse’s mouth, I’ll stick to backing Neil as the best man for the job,” he added.
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