Celtic legend has just told the club who would be their ‘perfect’ next manager
Celtic’s plans to appoint a new manager will surely have been accelerated after a crushing 3-1 defeat to Midtjylland in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Martin O’Neill is currently in interim charge of Celtic after Brendan Rodgers resigned from his position as boss due to irreparable differences with the board.
Numerous managers have been linked to the vacant role, with Football Insider recently revealing that Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna is interested in becoming Celtic’s new boss.
Ange Postecoglou and Craig Bellamy are seemingly out of the running despite previous links, while Celtic are believed to be contemplating offering O’Neill a permanent contract until the end of the season.
His side were easily beaten by their Danish opponents on Thursday night, however, and they have been urged to look abroad as a result, with some kind of appointment clearly needed quickly.
Mjallby tells Celtic that ‘terrific’ Kjetil Knutsen would be a good appointment
Bodo/Glimt’s Kjetil Knutsen has been linked to the Celtic job recently after leading his side to four Eliteserien titles in the last five years.
Speaking live on TNT Sports (6 November, 6:55pm), Celtic legend and co-commentator Johan Mjallby backed the 57-year-old to do well at Parkhead if he was appointed, and compared him to both Rodgers and O’Neill.
He first said: “(Kjetil) Knutsen has been doing a terrific job for a number of seasons. He would be a very interesting choice,” then was asked what he feels the Norwegian would bring to the club.
Mjallby replied: “He would definitely (prioritise) still being good on the ball, but a mix, I would say, between the game Brendan Rodgers played, and the game Martin O’Neill wants to play. Maybe the perfect fit, who knows?”
Knutsen seems unhappy at Bodo and could be open to Celtic move
Knutsen has led Bodo to the league title for successive seasons, but his side are on the verge of failing to win three-in-a-row as the Eliteserien campaign edges to a conclusion.
They currently sit second in the table and one point behind Viking with three games to play, and the 57-year-old was publicly fuming with his players after a loss to Valerenga on Saturday (1 November) put the title into their rivals hands.
He said: “We look tired and a little empty, and not like the Glimt team we want to be. Today we simply didn’t have the energy and power. It looks like we’re a bit on edge.
“I can do very little with Viking. We just have to focus on the matches we have, and then we will first and foremost be able to deliver a better performance. We have given them an advantage when we should have been ready.”
Those words seem like a man who is at the end of his tether with his players, and Knutsen may well feel like it is time to move on from Bodo at the end of the season in late November after seven years at the helm.