Celtic Should Let Harry Kewell Pursue His Own Path … And Allow Scott Brown The Same.

I’ve read some stories today suggesting that if Harry Kewell goes that we should replace him with Scott Brown.

I appreciate that the idea makes just good sense, but I doubt it’s something that would interest Scott, and we should not put him in the position where he has to say no to us.

He’s too good to be a mere coach at Celtic Park.

Yesterday, I wrote about how Scott going for the Sunderland job is a great step forward if he wants to return to this club one day as boss.

He is never going to be credible as a manager at Celtic if he has spent his career here on the coaching staff. He will not command any more respect from the stands than John Kennedy did when he briefly stepped up as caretaker.

Some guys are just not cut out for top spot in the dugout. Kennedy is one of them. Brown is not. The manager’s jacket suits him perfectly.

He can be a huge success in a management gig and I for one want to see him get the Sunderland job and forge his own legend. Then he’ll be experienced enough and respected enough as a boss to come home and sit in that seat.

That Kewell has a serious chance of getting the Yokohama job is massive.

I am chuffed as Hell for him. That’s a great opportunity which he should jump at if he gets offered it, and I have very little doubt that he would. It is not out of the question that he if he goes there and succeeds, we can look at him as a future managerial prospect.

I wish them both well. Brown was an exceptional Celtic captain and Kewell has been a brilliant coach.

They want to go out into the world and stake their own claim, and this is not a bad thing for Celtic but a potential boon for the future. Every managerial reign comes to an end and then you are looking for the next guy … it would be good if, when Rodgers leaves, that we had two fine candidates with an affection for our club out there in the world having proven something.

Even if they weren’t ready for the immediate move back to Parkhead, they would be well on the way to building their CV’s to the point where it wasn’t an option but started to look like an inevitability. That won’t happen if they stay here.

I get that Kewell is excellent and that Brown would be a fantastic replacement, but they are thinking about grander horizons … and so should we.