The roulette of who will become the next Celtic manager is continuing as we enter the final days of the season. A new name which has joined the ranks (The Scottish Sun) to take over at Parkhead is former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Chris Hughton. The manager was recently let go by the Seagulls even though they did go on to beat relegation. However, the club’s form was poor this season even though they spent big money in the summer of 2018.
Bookmakers have massively reduced the odds of the former Norwich boss getting the job at Celtic ever since he got the sack from the Amex Stadium. SportNation has set the odds at 3/1 for Hughton which is the second favourite behind only Neil Lennon. Lennon might have helped the club to steady the ship, but the team’s performance since he was appointed as the interim manager has been average.
The Bhoys recently went down meekly to Rangers at Ibrox, and that result didn’t help Lennon in consolidating his position to become the next manager. Celtic have been linked with some heavyweight names in the past few months including Champions League winners like Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho. However, there is almost a sense of inevitability that the Bhoys wouldn’t be able to land such high profile managers.
Can Hughton be the answer for Celtic?
Hughton is primarily known for his work with Norwich and Brighton. He took Brighton to the Premier League two seasons back, and they stayed up last season by finishing 15th and accumulating 40 points. Many pundits put them in line to be relegated that season, but they stayed put with ease.
Brighton had spent close to £100m in the last three transfer windows, and that is the primary reason why the owners decided to sack Hughton as they were expected to do better than the 2017-18 season.
The 60-year-old manager is known to be a hard taskmaster, and he is known as someone who deploys high-intensity training methods. He puts great emphasis on discipline and organisation. Hughton usually uses a 4-1-4-1 formation.
We are a bit undecided on Hughton here. He can be a decent bet, but he isn’t precisely what Celtic need right now. The Hoops need a young manager who can come in with some fresh ideas and who has the knowledge of managing outside of British football. The knowledge of continental players will help the club to make shrewd signings as someone like Daniel Fakre did with Norwich City. So, for now, we don’t think Hughton might be the best bet for Celtic going forward.
