Jim McGuinness has stepped down from his role at Celtic to take up a coaching position with Chinese club Beijing Sinobo Guoan.
In 2012 the former Donegal GAA coach was given a role at Celtic that covered sports science and psychology.
Working mainly with the development squad the popular coach served under Neil Lennon, Ronny Deila and Brendan Rodgers and assisted Tommy McIntyre last season with the Development squad.
Celtic was his first job in soccer but after five years in Glasgow he has decided to test himself in China.
After accepting an offer to work with Roger Schmidt McGuinness told The Irish Times: “It’s a fantastic opportunity. It’s a level up for me and a great honour to be asked. Roger is a really prestigious European coach and just to be part of his management team is a great privilege. I also feel that it’s great timing in terms of taking the next step forward in my own coaching career.
“In terms of Celtic, every decision that was made was with their knowledge. Dermot Desmond, in particular, was implicit in any decision made. And I’d like to think that the umbilical cord won’t be cut. Everyone in the club has been hugely supportive and hopefully I will return there someday as a better coach.”
The departure of McGuinness leaves Celtic a bit light in terms of coaches at Development level where McIntyre previously worked alongside Stevie Frail.
Michael O’Halloran and Mark McNally manage the u-16 and u-17 sides but it could be an opportunity for Kolo Toure to get involved in coaching by working alongside McIntyre at the level immediately below the first team.