Kevin Muscat and the Celtic history former Rangers man must overcome after being deemed too volatile for derby heat
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It’s rare for a manager’s backroom team to cause any sort of debate when it comes to football fans.
Yet for Celtic the men behind their managerial targets this summer have merited more than a fleeting mention.
Long-time frontrunner Eddie Howe’s proposed move to Parkhead reportedly collapsed over the fact he couldn’t get his former Bournemouth coaching staff to join him in Scotland.
And now speculation over Ange Postecoglou’s number two is the source of some consternation among the Hoops legions.
In fact, the man in question – Kevin Muscat – is probably upsetting some of the Celtic support more than he ever did during his time with their fierce rivals.
The Aussie only spent a season at Ibrox but it was a successful one as he managed to help Alex McLeish’s men to a clean sweep.
However, if that was hard for the Celtic fans to stomach it wasn’t so much down to Muscat’s involvement as he was famously removed from the heat of Old Firm battle.
McLeish didn’t trust the notoriously fiery former defender in the white-hot atmosphere of one of the world’s fiercest derby encounters given his disciplinary record.
Muscat picked up more bookings than TUI during his career and his manager didn’t want to risk him when the stakes were high.
The Aussie later said of that: “I’ll never forgive Alex McLeish for not playing me in an Old Firm game — but in the nicest way possible.
“At the time I didn’t respect or understand his decision. But I’ve come to realise you have to make big decisions if you want to be a successful boss.
“I understand these are the things that managers have to do. They have to make the big calls. It was hard at the time, I would’ve loved to have sampled the derby.
“But overall, I have great memories from that Treble season at Ibrox.”
It was the single, successful season in Govan that has caused a ripple of discontent among Celtic fans at the prospect of him moving to Parkhead and some believe that sums up the disconnect between the support and the board.
The very notion that they would consider an ex-Light Blues player at a time when there is anger on the back of a catastrophic failed 10 In A Row attempt, missing out on Howe and now going for an underwhelming back-up is hard for some to believe.
But this is hardly on the scale of Maurice Johnston – or even Kenny Miller or Steven Pressley for that matter – and it certainly makes sense.
Having never worked in Europe before, outside of a brief spell in the third tier in Greece, Postecoglou will need someone with knowledge of this continent and the Old Firm environment.
Craig Moore would have been the perfect candidate having worked under the 55-year-old before with the Socceroos but he IS steeped too much in Rangers tradition and would be unlikely to make that move.
Muscat, though, only had those 12 months so it’s more plausible and there is also the fact he went through the same UEFA Pro Licence saga Postecoglou could be faced with during a recent managerial stint in Belgium.
He was offered the chance to boss Belgian side St Truiden last year and initially had to take the title of Technical Advisor which he described as a nightmare
Muscat said of that episode: “Imagine, you pack up, go chase your dreams – ‘I know I am capable of it, I just need to find an opportunity’,
“I had a couple of (other) interviews, a setback here, setback there; then you see some light – the highs were unbelievable. Then: receive the contract, agree! But, you can’t work here.
“It was painful, but I wasn’t going to let it beat me. And the club showed me a great deal of loyalty.”
He was eventually granted a ‘Recognition of Competence’ certificate from UEFA, which Celtic are seeking for Postecoglou.
Muscat left the Belgian club recently but said in a Record Sport interview: “I’ve been working in Europe for the last year and if an opportunity ever came up in Scotland of course I’d explore it.”
If reports from Down Under are accurate then that chance could come up in the east end of Glasgow.
Winning over the Celtic fans could be another hurdle for him – but he was never one to shirk a challenge.