Former Celtic midfielder John Collins believes Scotland boss Steve Clarke is not the right man to replace Neil Lennon at Parkhead, as he told talkSPORT (25 February, 9:00am).
It wasn’t just the results that saw the Hoops fanbase turn on one of their own. It wasn’t just the humiliating defeats to Ferencvaros, Sparta Prague, Ross County, St Mirren and Ross County again.
It wasn’t just the dismal title defence; the dramatic collapse of their ten-in-a-row ambitions.
After being treated to weekly mouthfuls of caviar during Brendan Rodgers’ all-conquering reign, an alarming decline in terms of the quality of football since the spring of 2019 was always likely to undermine Lennon’s second spell in the green half of Glasgow.
Gone was the domineering, death-by-a-thousand passes style which had the rest of Scotland quaking in their boots; replaced by a stodgy, sluggish and uninspiring approach that came to define the final, painful months of Lennon’s tenure.
Those increasingly-rare moments of success were often the result of individual quality rather than any clear tactical plan. So, with the Hoops in the market for a coach capable of immediately closing the cavernous gap between themselves and a runaway Rangers side, Collins believes it is unlikely that Celtic will turn to Steve Clarke.
The 57-year-old guided Kilmarnock to a third-place finish in 2018/19 before securing Scotland’s qualification for Euro 2021.
But, according to Collins, Clarke is more a pragmatist than a purist – a poor fit for a Celtic side who demand not only success but success in style
“To be the manager of Celtic, you’ve got to have experience. You’ve got to have played a certain brand of football and been successful with it. You to be need an offensive, attacking-minded coach. The fans want victories but they want to win in style,” said Collins, who spent six years in green and white between 1990 and 1996.
“Has (Clarke) produced attacking, entertaining football? The answer would probably be ‘no’.
“His teams are organised, hard-to-beat. That’s not really what Celtic are looking for; they’re looking for 3-0, 4-0 victories in style.
“Stevie has done a brilliant job with both Kilmarnock and Scotland but I don’t know if he fits the profile of a Celtic manager.”
John Kennedy, Lennon’s assistant, is expected to take charge until the end of the campaign.
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