Celtic face some big decisions over the coming weeks and months, with the future of the club set to enter new hands.
The Bhoys will have a new manager after Neil Lennon’s resignation, whilst a director of football will also be needed.
A host of names have been linked with both roles, and ex-Celtic man John Hughes has now suggested a return for John Collins.
Collins was a hero as a Celtic player before serving as Ronny Deila’s assistant manager at Parkhead, but Hughes doesn’t think Collins should be manager.
Instead, Hughes has told the Daily Record (10/03, p57) thinks Collins is ‘ideal’ for Celtic’s director of football job, having served in a similar role for Livingston back in 2012.
Hughes believes that Peter Lawwell – who is leaving Celtic this summer – ‘knows’ that not appointing Collins would be a mistake, highlighting his knowledge of the Scottish and French markets as a major selling point.
“If Celtic overlook John they’ll be making one of the biggest mistakes they could have made for a number of years. Peter Lawwell knows that,” said Hughes. “Some will think I’m just saying that because I spend a lot of time with John but everything we do is football, football, football. There are a number of very good reasons why he fits the bill.”
“He was massive for Celtic in signing Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie, in Kieran Tierney’s development and he had a massive influence on Virgil van Dijk. He’s got another ace up his sleeve in terms of being fluent in French and that market’s been valuable over the years. He’d be ideal,” he added.
The 53-year-old has been out of football since leaving Celtic in 2016, though has worked as a pundit during his time away.
Maybe Collins will be on the Celtic radar for their director position, but it’s hard to see him returning to Parkhead to lead the new era – even if Hughes is adamant that he is the right man for the job.
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