Intrigue about the next Celtic manager appears to be rife in the deepest corners of Afghanistan.
The city of Herat is apparently a Taliban stronghold but even thousands of miles from Lennoxtown some of the locals want to know who’ll be leading the hoops next season.
Seven weeks after Neil Lennon resigned there has been nothing more substantial to come out of the club than a bland Q and A with Dermot Desmond that promised fans that the club would go through the right processes to appoint a manager.
Reporters and those apparently In The Know haven’t been able to offer much more than second hand hints and tips revolving around talks about talks.
Celtic fan and film-makes Jamie Doran was recently posted to Herat, with football being an international language a familiar topic soon cropped up as Doran explained to Belfast Media:
They seemed just like ordinary blokes in many ways, wanting to know which team I supported. They’d obviously spotted the Celtic top underneath my tunic and, when I confirmed this to them, they couldn’t stop talking about Odsonne Edouard, Scott Brown (“he is a very strong leader”) and a couple of other players. But the biggest topic was the new manager. They’d heard of Eddie Howe, but wondered why we weren’t going for someone more famous. I wasn’t about to disagree with them.
Revealing where the interest in Celtic stemmed from, Doran added:
From what I could gather, their fascination with the club stems from the support Celtic fans have given to the Palestinian cause over the years. This is close to the heart of all Muslims and the backing from the Celtic diaspora has obviously struck a chord.
The Bhoys of Herat will be hoping that John Kennedy can steer the hoops to a Scottish Cup victory at Ibrox on Sunday.
