Jim McGuinness, by all accounts, is flying at Celtic.
Ronny Deila is under pressure but the Celtic board insist he’s their man.
The Scottish champions are six points clear in the league but were eliminated from the Champions and Europa leagues before December. There are murmurings of discontent among the Celtic Park faithful, and from pundits and ex-players.
Celtic’s European exit, on Thursday, has seen a spike in action on the books of some leading bookies.
Depending on who you visit, you can back McGuinness as next Celtic manager for odds of between 20 and 25/1.
That is better priced than the likes of Paul Lambert, Martin Jol and Paolo Di Canio.
SELECTION OF ODDS*
- Roy Keane 2/1
- David Moyes 2/1
- Henrik Larsson 8/1
- John Collins 20/1
- Martin O’Neill 20/1
- Jim McGuinness 20/1
Speaking back in May, as part of his media duties with Sky Sports, McGuinness revealed he had received greater coaching responsibility at Celtic.
“It’s been a very busy schedule in terms of juggling Celtic in a full-time capacity and working exclusively with the first team now. I’ve really enjoyed working with Ronnie and the coaches.
“I’m looking forward to starting my Uefa ‘B’ [licence] in two weeks’ time. What I want to do at the moment is use the badges to make myself in my own job.
“I do a lot of one-to-ones with players every single day and you do get into very in-depth conversations with them. There’s a lot of tactical stuff as well.”
The biggest stumbling block for the former Donegal boss is his profile in the footballing world. Many Celtic fans may not approve of a relative unknown taking over from the Norwegian.
*Shortest odds
