When you consider the alternatives, Shaun Maloney looks like a credible Celtic option.

As we all know, Celtic will be looking for a new manager in the summer, and we do not have a whole lot of time to start getting our ducks in a row. The more you consider the place we’re in the more it starts to look like Shaun Maloney has a chance.

I am not saying Shaun Maloney is the perfect candidate. am not saying he is my preferred candidate.

But when you look at some of the names being discussed right now, something interesting starts to happen.

He begins to look more and more credible.

And the current context is this: a supposed shortlist that includes Robbie Keane, the Motherwell manager, Craig Bellamy, and others whose credentials range from unconvincing to wildly speculative. When that is the field, the conversation changes.

Suddenly, Shaun Maloney does not look like a gamble. He looks like a serious option. That is not because he has an overwhelming managerial track record. He does not. It is because of what he has been doing over the past few months.

Working alongside Martin O’Neill has changed the perception around him. Massively. You can see it. You can feel it. There is a difference between a coach learning his trade in isolation and one learning it within a functioning, stabilised environment under someone who knows exactly what he is doing.

Maloney has had a front-row seat to that and he, like Martin, is working in the midst of chaos and uncertainty. That counts for something. He has been part of a setup that, for a time, restored a degree of belief, structure, and purpose to the team at a time when they needed it most. Not perfectly, not completely, but enough to remind people what a coherent football operation looks like.

That matters because one of the biggest problems at Celtic right now is not just results. It is a lack of clarity. A lack of direction. A sense that decisions are being made without a unifying football idea behind them.

In that environment, the next managerial appointment is not just about picking a name. It is about restoring coherence. And when you look at the alternatives being floated, you have to ask serious questions.

Robbie Keane? Successful elsewhere, yes, but God does he come with baggage. He is not a unifying figure. He will be completely unacceptable to a lot of our fans and that means it cannot happen. Maloney would not be unacceptable. Unattractive, perhaps. Uninspiring, maybe. But he would not sew genuine division and cause huge issues for us,

Craig Bellamy? An interesting profile, certainly. A coach with ideas. But again, largely unproven at the level Celtic require. You are taking a leap.

The Motherwell option? With respect, that should not even be part of the conversation if Celtic are thinking properly about their own standards.

This is a club that should be aiming to raise the level, not mirror what sits below it.

So where does that leave us? If this board will not do a proper search, it leaves us looking for someone who understands the club, understands the demands, and has recently been part of something that actually worked. That is where Maloney comes in.

He knows Celtic. That is not a throwaway line. It matters. I would prefer a complete outsider, as long as he has the requisite experience. But Maloney would bring continuity and I have already argued that if O’Neill wins the league, we could do worse than to offer him the job for another year and let him bring stability to the club.

He understands the expectations. He understands the scrutiny and what it means to play and operate at a club where second place is failure. That is not something you can teach overnight. It is not something you can learn overnight either.

More importantly, he has just spent months inside a dressing room that, for a period, rediscovered a sense of purpose. He has seen what it takes to stabilise a situation that was drifting. He has been part of the process of rebuilding belief.

That experience is fresh. It is relevant, and it sets him apart from some of the other names being mentioned. There is also something else to consider.

Celtic is not a club where a manager can arrive to a cold reception and quietly build over time. The pressure is immediate. The scrutiny is relentless. If the support is not onside early, it becomes a problem very quickly.

As I said a moment ago, most supporters would probably be alright with Shaun Maloney. Not overwhelmingly excited, perhaps. Not convinced he is the long-term answer. But open to it. Willing to give him a chance. That is not nothing.

In fact, in the current climate, it is a significant advantage.

Maloney is not the headline-grabbing choice. He is not the obvious one. But he is a credible one. He has made himself part of the conversation, and in a situation where Celtic desperately need to get this decision right, his steadiness is his biggest asset.

Of course, there are risks. There always are. He has not managed at this level. He has not yet proven himself over a sustained period as the main man. Those are valid concerns and they should not be dismissed. But every option carries risk.

The question is not whether there is risk.

The question is whether there is enough there to justify it. Right now, given the alternatives being discussed, he looks the best of the lot of them.

Sometimes the best candidate is not the biggest name.

It is the one who fits the moment. And right now, Shaun Maloney looks like a man who might just fit it better than most.

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