With Brendan Rodgers announcing he will leave Celtic to take up the reins of Premier League side Leicester City, the Northern Irishman becomes the latest coach to head south after a spell with the Bhoys.
Managing a club with such huge ambitions brings its own pressures and many who have sat in the dug-out at Celtic Park have found this to their detriment, but not Rodgers.
Rodgers’ time in Glasgow has been a glowing success, having won two Scottish Premiership titles, two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups and he leaves the club in a good position for Neil Lennon, his replacement.
The decision to go is of his own choosing, though that has not always been the case for managers at the Scottish giants.
Since 2000, five managers have made the same journey south to either look at furthering their careers, or to try and reignite them, in England.
Here’s what happened next to all five…
John Barnes (June 1999 – February 2000)
English club managed: Tranmere Rovers
Why he left Celtic: Sacked
John Barnes took charge of Celtic in the summer of 1999 with Kenny Dalglish acting as his director of football. Given the style and swagger Barnes used to show as a player, his appointment was met with general enthusiasm.
This proved misplaced as Barnes struggled at the helm. His side’s shock exit at the hands of Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup inspired the famous Sun headline: “Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious.”
He was sacked shortly afterwards in a season that saw Celtic finish 11 points behind title-winners Rangers. Barnes would have to wait nine years before getting another club manager’s job, this time with Tranmere Rovers.
His brief spell in charge in Birkenhead was disastrous and, along with assistant Jason McAteer, Barnes was sacked in October after just three wins in his first 14 games. The Super Whites would stay up by a single point thanks to a final-day win away at Stockport.
Martin O’Neill (June 2000 – May 2005)
English clubs managed: Aston Villa, Sunderland and Nottingham Forest
Why he left Celtic: Resigned to care for his seriously ill wife.
Martin O’Neill spent five heady years in Glasgow winning silverware left, right and centre. The Irishman’s enthusiasm for the job had the desired effect and lifted the club following a disappointing spell under former Liverpool man, Barnes.
During his time at Celtic Park, O’Neill won three league titles, three Scottish Cups, one League Cup and also, famously, finished runners up in the 2002-03 Uefa Cup Final. To really cement his legend status, O’Neill also oversaw a record seven consecutive victories in Old Firm derbies and, in the 2003-04 season, Celtic set a British record of 25 consecutive league victories.
Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel: sqwk.at/Squawka-Sub
O’Neill resigned in May 2005 to care for his wife, Geraldine, who had lymphoma. Following a three-month break from the game he took charge of Aston Villa and helped the Birmingham club to three consecutive sixth-placed finishes and a League Cup runners-up medal after losing to Manchester United in 2010.
He left shortly before the start of the 2010-11 season following disagreements with owner Randy Lerner about how the club should move forward.
An unsuccessful spell at Sunderland followed before a stint as the Republic of Ireland manager. He is now back in the dug-out at Nottingham Forest where, as a player, he was part of the side to win back-to-back European Cups in the ‘70s.
Gordon Strachan (May 2005 – May 2009)
English club managed: Middlesbrough
Reason for leaving Celtic: Resigned after failing to win the league in 2008-09.
Gordon Strachan had a hard task of following the trail blazed by O’Neill but after a tricky start, he did very well.
Strachan stamped his own style on the team in terms of recruitment and brought the club their first taste of Champions League knockout football since 1993. During the run in Europe’s most-coveted competition in 2006-07, Celtic would win home group games against Manchester United, Copenhagen and Benfica only to be knocked out by AC Milan.
During his time in Glasgow, Strachan would win three consecutive Scottish Premier League titles (then only the third ever Bhoys boss to achieve this), one Scottish Cup and two League Cups. He resigned in 2009 after failing to secure another league title.
His return to English football management, having previously been in charge at Coventry and Southampton, was not to be a success.
He joined Championship side Middlesbrough in October 2009 but a poor first season saw the club finish 11th and an even worse start to the following campaign, after signing a number of players from the Scottish Premier League, saw the Scotsman resign a little over a year after taking charge.
Tony Mowbray (June 2009 – March 2010)
English clubs managed: Middlesbrough, Coventry and Blackburn
Reason for leaving Celtic: Sacked
Tony Mowbray was appointed as Celtic manager in the summer of 2009 but would fail to bring success to the club following his time at West Brom.
His league form, in particular, was too inconsistent and defeats to the likes of Dundee United, Hibernian and, finally, St Mirren saw him sacked after less than a season in charge.
Mowbray would, as chance would have it, replace Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough on his return to England and several middling seasons in the Championship followed. It was after a poor run of just two wins in 12 in 2013-14 that he was sacked.
A spell at Coventry followed before he joined Blackburn in 2016-17 with the club fighting relegation from the Championship and despite an upturn in results, he was unable to keep them up. He masterminded an immediate return to the second tier by finishing runners-up in League One during the 2017-18 season, largely thanks to the signing of midfielder, Bradley Dack, who has continued to perform well for the former Celtic boss in the Championship this campaign.
Neil Lennon (March 2010 – May 2014)
English club managed: Bolton Wanderers
Reason for leaving Celtic: Left by mutual consent
Neil Lennon came in to replace Tony Mowbray and started very well. Following Mowbray’s departure, the club won the final eight league games but lost to Ross County in the Scottish Cup semi-final.
He would go on to win three consecutive Premier League titles and two Scottish Cups. However, European success eluded him.
Lennon left the club in May 2014 and joined Bolton Wanderers later in the summer. His time at Bolton was hugely disrupted with off-the-field problems and, after surviving relegation in his first season, he was unable to reverse the club’s poor form. He left the club by mutual consent in March 2016 and is now once again Celtic’s manager on an interim basis following the departure of Rodgers.
The post What happened next? Every manager who left Celtic to coach in England since 2000 appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka News https://ift.tt/2H7KRdm
No comments:
Post a Comment