Copyright dailyrecord
Football isn’t a business where many employees get rolled out in front of the staff to get the gold carriage clock for long service. Most managers and coaches don’t stick around long enough to earn a plastic Casio watch. But every so often there are folk who buck the trend, the ones who stay and stand the test of time. And when it does get to the point to part ways, they probably deserve the occasion to be marked by more than a few words on a website. It might have got lost in the wash – and there was more washing going on than Widow Twanky’s laundrette – but it wasn’t just Brendan Rodgers who departed Celtic over the seismic past few days. John Kennedy also headed for the exit, ending almost 30 years at Parkhead, where he arrived as a nipper, broke into the first team as a kid and then overcame his horrific career ending injury to become the most decorated coach in the club’s history with a hand in an incredible 22 trophies. Oh, and you can chuck in three titles as youth team boss and a couple of Scottish Youth Cups as well, plus the two league medals he picked up as a player. Yet the club’s statement – two days after Rodgers departed – simply said: “Celtic Football Club can confirm today that assistant manager John Kennedy, coaches Adam Sadler and Jack Lyons, and Head of Performance Glen Driscoll have left the club with immediate effect. “We thank each of them for their contribution to Celtic and we wish them all well for the future. “We are pleased to welcome former Celtic Captain Stephen McManus and former Celtic player Mark Fotheringham into our first team coaching set-up, where they will join Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney on an interim basis, alongside coaches Stephen Woods, Gavin Strachan and Greg Wallace.” Charming. There’s also the confusion over his departure. Kennedy is keeping his own counsel but did he jump or was he pushed? Or, more likely, somewhere in between. Kennedy has come with the manager’s gig for 11 years, but was that going to change this time, when the new man being given free rein to appoint his own staff? Kennedy might have been offered the chance to stay in a different role but there as no way he could step back. He might have felt he should be finally given a crack at the top job himself, but if that’s not happening then the time could be right to go out on his own. Kennedy won’t be short of offers. Rodgers could take him on his next adventure are well, but either way, the 42-year-old will surely get the recognition from Celtic at some point once the dust settles. At least most Celtic supporters have not missed the significance of his work over the years. Celtic have been good to Kennedy – but he's been brilliant for Celtic too. There have been times when the big fella has copped it, mind you. Despite a period of utter domination, it almost seemed like any time the team conceded a goal from a set piece, comically, it was Kennedy to blame, mainly because he was a former defender. It was nonsense, of course. Kennedy is no set piece merchant. He evolved in to an outstanding all-round coach. Ask the dozens of players who have worked with him and the numerous bosses. Rodgers wanted to take him toe Leicester City in 2019. Ange Postecoglou wanted him on board for Tottenham in 2023. Kennedy turned down the Foxes and was denied the chance to got to Spurs. He could have taken the huff. Instead he got back on the Brendan bus and helped deliver another tranche of trophies. He’s not the type of guy to bump his own gums – and that’s why Celtic should have done it for him, regardless of the way things ended on Monday night. Kennedy has the tools to become a successful manager in his own right. But where does this leave Celtic? There’s the intriguing Shaun Maloney factor to consider too. Many have suspected the new interim assistant coach to Martin O’Neill has been groomed for the top job himself. Maloney did seem wildly over-qualified for the players’ pathway gig he got on his return to Celtic. The timing might have some of the Mrs Marples in the support crooking the odd eyebrow. Maloney checked in at the end of June, around about the time Parkhead powerbroker Dermot Desmond was apparently ‘keen’ to explore a new contract for Brendan Rodgers. The Irish tycoon wasn’t keen enough to actually draft a new deal and by this week the only thing being typed up was that scratching statement scorching Rodgers. As for Maloney though, sure, it’s an important role patching up the broken progression road from the youth team to senior set up at Parkhead. But it’s not a job for a guy who has managed Hibs and Wigan, and who was Roberto Martinez’s right hand man in the dugout for Belgium at the Euro Championships. It’s almost a waste of his obvious coaching talent. Not now though. Maloney will play a major part on the grass, in the short term at least. It was clear at O’Neill’s unveiling the other day he’s going to be the new stand-in gaffer’s straight man. While O’Neill is one of the best man managers in the business, he admitted himself his new sidekick will have a big tactical input as well as being the link man to the squad. Celtic are pushing ahead with plans to appoint a new permanent manager, with the international break in less than two weeks the target to have a new man in position. But where will Maloney’s role be in all of this? He’s not going to be the main man, but it would be a shock if he didn’t have some kind of role in any new look regime. Maloney’s long term future is unknown but Kennedy’s place in history as a club great should be crystal clear.
