Should Celtic’s manager hunt look to “the prince across the water”?

Here we go again. Another week, another name pulled out of the hat and placed at the door of Celtic Park as if it answers the question. This time, it is Chris Davies, and this might be a tantalising one or it might be absolute rubbish. I don’t know.

And I’ll be honest. My first reaction was not excitement or outrage. It was curiosity. Because Davies is not the most obvious name, but he is not one you can dismiss out of hand either.

He has not managed to get Birmingham promoted, and that matters.

Promotion was the target, perhaps even the expectation, and he did not get them over the line.

At most clubs, that would be enough to take a name out of the conversation. But actually it might be what puts him in it. If he gets them up he’s the hero, he’s taking on the EPL big boys and there is no force on heaven or earth that shifts him except another EPL job.

But maybe his position is not secure. Perhaps he doesn’t fancy another year building with the fear that it could be all snatched away from him again.

His failure to win means that he doesn’t have the kind of prize that would make him automatically attractive to Celtic. Yet football is funny like this. He was a credible candidate before. He may still be seen as one.

Davies remains highly regarded. People inside the game clearly see something in him.

The question is whether that “something” is enough for Celtic, because Celtic is a different standard altogether. There are other questions of course, but let’s say that was the main one. Why would we want him? That’s the logic of it.

The obvious point is the Brendan Rodgers connection. Davies was not just some distant observer of Rodgers’ methods. He worked closely with him. He was inside that footballing world.

Davies will have absorbed the language, the training ideas, the tactical approach and the way Rodgers wanted his teams to play. There is some question about whether Rodgers is necessarily the same man without him.

Besides, you do not spend that kind of time as an assistant without learning something.

So naturally, the question follows.

If he has been that close to Rodgers, could he bring some of that to Celtic? That is where I hesitate. And this is why it’s right to hesitate.

Because learning from someone and standing on your own as a manager are two very different things. Being a good assistant does not automatically make you a good manager. We have seen that across football often enough.

The step from the background to the spotlight is enormous. It is not just about coaching sessions, tactical ideas or what you know on the training pitch. It is about authority. Presence. Decision-making. Pressure.

It is about whether you can carry Celtic. That is not something you inherit from another manager. You either have it or you don’t.

I am not dismissing Davies. There is logic in at least asking the question.

If Celtic want some continuity of style, then he makes more sense than some of the names being thrown around. He would understand the kind of football Celtic supporters expect. He would understand the need to dominate, control games and impose ourselves rather than react.

That knowledge has value.

And yes, if this was remotely serious, he would surely speak to Brendan Rodgers.

He would ask him what the job is really like, what the pressure feels like and what the problems are behind the scenes. That makes this slightly different from the usual speculative nonsense, because he has a direct line to someone who knows the job better than almost anyone.

Would that dissuade him? That will depend on the mood inside the club.

That will depend on what promises the next manager gets about how the culture will be changing, the mood music will be changing and the level of ambition might be upped. Hearing it and believing it might be two different things though.

Even if we could convince him, is he the best we can get?

Celtic is not a testing ground. It is not a place where a manager comes to find out if he might be ready. It is not a quiet project club where patience stretches on forever. The expectation is immediate. Win games. Win trophies. Handle Europe. Deal with the media and the supporters. Cope with the internal noise.

He won League One at Birmingham with a record points total.

They were exceptional. They blazed through that league.

And he hasn’t been a disaster in the Championship; newly promoted sides usually don’t win the title or get promoted to the next division, and if it seems like he should be doing more that’s largely because too many people have watched what’s happening at Wrexham and jumped to conclusions.

That is why this is not just about the Rodgers connection.

If Celtic look at Davies only as Brendan’s former assistant, then we are already in dangerous territory. We cannot appoint a shadow.  We need someone who walks into Celtic Park and immediately feels like the manager. Davies isn’t that though.

But the simple question is unavoidable and it remains just the same; is Chris Davies good enough right now?

Not potentially good enough. Not maybe good enough with time. Good enough now. Because “maybe good enough” is not really the Celtic standard anyway. It should not be. Celtic should not be aiming for adequate.

Celtic should be aiming for dominance, certainty and leadership. The manager has to understand the responsibility of the club from the first day, not grow into it slowly while the season unfolds around him.

So, is it worth a phone call? Aye, probably.

There is no harm in asking the question. There is no harm in looking at a coach with that background and wondering if there is something there. But a phone call and an appointment are two very different things. One is curiosity. The other is commitment.

And Celtic cannot make the next managerial appointment based on curiosity.

For me, it comes down to identity. Not his connection to Rodgers. Not his reputation in England, nor what people think he might become. It comes down to whether he can stand on his own two feet and look like the man for Celtic.

Could Chris Davies be Celtic manager? Maybe. There is a case to be made. Yes, there is logic there and yes, there is background there. There is understanding there. That is not everything, but it’s not nothing either and we know that.

But theory and reality are miles apart in this game.

Until I see something that tells me Davies is not just ready for the role, but ready to seize it, I remain where I started.

Curious, but far from sold. I wonder if people at Celtic feel the same.

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