I genuinely think Celtic have made a top appointment in Tony Mowbray. He plays great football, he doesn’t arrive with the same success as Martin O’Neill did, but I think the fans will be very happy.
When you look at who Celtic could have gone for, if you look at who was available on the market, the fans have to be very happy.
Tony’s not a huge name, but he’s had a season in The Premier League now and I think it’s great that he’s getting a chance.
If you look for big names, they’re either unavailable or they’ll cost you astronomical amounts to attract them. In that context, I think Mowbray is a great appointment, I really do.
Mowbray comes with a good pedigree, I know some people would say he didn’t do well in The Premier League but I think he did. West Brom weren’t a million miles off the pace, whereas when you look at previous years the likes of Reading and Watford were 15+ points away from survival.
West Brom missed out by four or five points, the season before they won the Championship at a canter playing superb football – which is what Celtic want.
He’ll have a good squad to work from, Strachan has put down fantastic foundations for him – bringing in the likes of Gary Caldwell who scooped all the awards. Scott Brown did likewise, plus he’s got a great striker in Scott McDonald.
McDonald will need somebody to play alongside him because Samaras and Venegoor of Hesselink, although good players, perhaps are not the individuals to help Celtic challenge Rangers.
Mowbray will want to bring in two or three players of his own, maybe from West Brom, but he’ll mix his own scouting system with Celtic’s to make sure he starts the season with the right squad.
Coming with him is a fine coaching team. Mark Venus is an excellent coach, I worked with him and he puts on excellent passing sessions, him and Mowbray work very well together. Peter Grant knows the club inside out, and Neil Lennon is a great guy and is turning into a fine young coach himself.