The Sun is reporting that Jack Lyons is in line to return to Celtic as part of Brendan Rodgers’ backroom staff.
During the early days of his first stint at Celtic the Irishman was impressed by a blog from Lyons and invited him on board for an analysis and scouting role.
Rodgers was so impressed that he took Lyons with him to Leicester where he got an unexpected call out from James Maddison during an interview on Sky Sports.
Over the last three days a real momentum has built up towards Rodgers returning to Celtic, no other candidate is being discussed in the media with the backroom staff and future plans getting more coverage.
The issue of assistant manager, basically revolving around John Kennedy, has still to be resolved but this morning The Sun reported:
Jack Lyons was picked up by Rodgers from his tactical blog during his first spell at the Hoops.
The then Parkhead boss was so impressed with his work he brought the web guru in-house and appointed him opposition scout to follow Raith Rovers and Falkirk boss John McGlynn.
But he also persuaded him to abandon Lennoxtown for Leicester in 2019 – where he boosted the likes of James Maddison’s performances.
The England cap hailed Lyons’ work and admitted his insight made a big difference in correcting criticism from Sky Sports’ pundits and, eventually, to an eventual England recall.
He said: “I remember a game we played Sheffield United, I always watch the games back and Jamie Carragher said in commentary that ‘James Maddison needs to get his numbers up if he wants to be challenging for the England spots and being talked about’.
“Me, the gaffer and Jack the analyst sat down – Jack will be buzzing that I name-dropped him. We sat down and looked at where I could get more goals.
“Playing a bit deeper, little things like breaking into the box, getting beyond that line and almost smelling where the ball is going to drop. It is not an easy thing to do.
“That is something I will keep improving on, scoring goals, because everybody wants numbers.”
Lyons brought those numbers and could bring his nous back to the Hoops once Rodgers’ return is ratified.
The ex-Liverpool and Watford boss had planned to take a break from the game and fully intended on doing so as Ange Postecoglou picked up the reins at Spurs.
But face-to-face meetings with CEO Michael Nicholson and finance chief Chris McKay have put the ex-boss on the brink of a sensational return.
He’d also be looking to bring Glen Driscoll back as head of performance. The pair have worked together for almost 20 years at Reading, Liverpool and Swansea while Driscoll was also at Chelsea during Rodgers’ spell in the Blues Academy.
Kolo Toure was both a player and coach under Rodgers first time around, after a short spell in charge of Wigan he is currently without a job in football.
While no-one else is being linked with the Celtic job it seems that Leeds United have dropped their interest in Rodgers as they look to appoint their fourth manager of 2023.
” … No Other Candidate Is Being Discussed In The Media … “.
Strange that, for such a prestigious position!
And no Candidate List suggests that proper diligence and a competitive interview process are being bypassed. But Celtic plc are not good at self-promotion.
It is almost as if somebody else beside Celtic is choosing who to appoint, the media themselves perhaps? That we are now not the authors of our own destiny!
That history will be written the way that it was intended to be written. Not the way that it pans out!
It is almost as if the media player was plundering and carving up our Club and our game to suit their agenda!