Deila nominates Celtic legend to be his successor

By Coral Barry

Ronny Deila believes his assistant coach John Collins should be considered for the Celtic job.

The Norwegian is due to leave his position as Celtic manager at the end of the season and has identified his right hand man as his potential successor.

With the departure of Deila imminent and no word from the club on who might be the incoming manager, Collins' future at Celtic has been thrown into doubt.

Celtic have yet to give any indication of Collins' fate along with the rest of the current Hoops' back-room staff, but Deila believes the club should seriously consider promoting his assistant to the top job.

"John Collins has references on a level that not a lot of people in Scotland have had for many years," said Deila speaking to the Scotsman.

"He's been in a club environment that's been in the semi-finals of the Champions League with Monaco.

"He knows what the foreign countries are doing with the best clubs around. He has been unbelievably important for me and has so much to offer. He is different from a lot of people in Scotland – he dares to speak and say what he means.

"That's so important to have people like that. He knows what he's talking about and it's important he's listened to.

"He has a voice that can develop Scottish football. He could be a manager again, too – he has been there before."

Collins won the 2007 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian in his year in charge at the Scottish club and spent six years at Celtic during his playing career.

Celtic are on the brink of their fifth consecutive title after a 3-1 win over Hearts on Saturday.

In other Celtic news, there is a new frontrunner for the Hoops job.