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Celtic have been searching for their next permanent head coach since Brendan Rodgers tendered his resignation from his position at the start of last week.

Martin O’Neill has taken charge of the Scottish giants for the two matches since the Northern Irish manager moved on from Parkhead, and has overseen wins over Falkirk and Rangers.

The experienced manager’s instant impact at Parkhead has provided the board with a cushion of time to find the right man for the job, rather than needing to rush a decision because of a need for results in the short-term.

One thing the next manager needs to be able to do is to coach a team to score goals on a consistent basis, because that was the area of Rodgers’ performance that was most lacking this season.

As you can see in the table above, Celtic failed to score in more games in Rodgers’ 16 matches this season than they did in 57 outings in the 2025/26 campaign, which is a big cause for concern.

The Hoops need to find their next version of Australian head coach Ange Postecoglou, whose side rarely had trouble finding the back of the net.

Why Celtic need to find their next Ange Postecoglou

During his two seasons at Celtic, the former Spurs and Nottingham Forest manager made sure that the Scottish giants were goal machines across all competitions.

Postecoglou won five trophies in two years at Parkhead, including three domestic cups and two Scottish Premiership titles, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he was successful as well as being able to coach exciting and attacking football.

The 60-year-old head coach had the perfect blend of results and style, which is why he was the perfect manager for the club at the time, before his move to Tottenham in 2023.

As you can see in the table above, Celtic only failed to score in 11 of their 113 matches with Postecoglou as their head coach in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns.

Whereas, the Hoops failed to score in 11 of Rodgers’ last 73 matches in charge since the start of last season, which shows that the Australian boss was far more successful at coaching a consistent attacking unit.

This is why the Celtic board should currently be looking for a manager who can be their next version of Postecoglou, to bring attacking football back to Parkhead this season.

With the search for the permanent successor to Rodgers ongoing, the Scottish giants have been told to consider an international manager by a former player.

Celtic told to hire attack-minded international manager

Ex-Celtic central midfielder Joe Ledley has urged the Premiership champions to swoop for Wales head coach Craig Bellamy as their next head coach.

He told the Celtic Way: “There have been a lot of links down here with Craig Bellamy. He’s had a fantastic start to his managerial career at Wales.

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“There’s a lot of hype around him. The way Wales are playing has been fantastic – really attacking minded, always on the front foot. He’d be a perfect option for Celtic.

Ledley added: “I’ve told people up there he’d be a fantastic candidate for the Celtic job because of the way he plays. He’s always attacking-minded, enthusiastic, and lives and breathes football.”

Sky Sports reported last week that Bellamy is one of the names in the frame for the role, which suggests that there is a chance that the club make a move for him.

Why Celtic should move for Craig Bellamy

The 46-year-old tactician is a really interesting managerial option because he has never managed a club at first-team level, which means that he would be stepping into a high-pressure environment at Celtic for the first time as a club manager.

This means that it is hard to say with any degree of certainty that Bellamy, who typically plays a 4-2-3-1, as Postecoglou did, would be a success at Parkhead, as he does not have a track record of coaching first-team clubs to fall back on.

However, his work with Wales at international level does suggest that he has the ability to coach a team to attack well, as Ledley suggested with his comments.

Speaking on the High Performance Podcast in September, Bellamy rubbished claims that playing out from the back is a “risk”, saying that he does not feel it is a “risk” to play under pressure when you have a number advantage around your own box.

That mentality and way of coaching his team, as shown in the table above, has improved Wales both in terms of results and goals scored, as they are winning more points and scoring more goals than they did under the previous manager, Rob Page.

This shows that he has demonstrable success in improving a team as an attacking force, which is what Celtic need after their struggles in front of goal at the start of the season under Rodgers.

Last year, Welsh forward Harry Wilson explained that Bellamy’s way of playing is about taking more risks when playing out from the back, which helps to build an attacking style of play that creates more chances for the forwards.

Therefore, Bellamy could be the next Postecoglou at Parkhead because of his desire to play front-footed and attack-minded football that is full of ‘risks’, even if the manager does not view them as risks.

Rodgers upgrade: Celtic could go far in Europe by hiring "unbeatable" manager

Celtic could upgrade on Brendan Rodgers in a key area by hiring this head coach.

By
Dan Emery

Nov 4, 2025

However, it still remains to be seen whether or not the former Celtic winger would be willing to move on from the Wales job before the World Cup next summer.

“Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and obviously, I wish now that I didn’t play that shot and get out,” Harry Brook says

Matt Roller04-Aug-20251:58

Bangar: Brook largely responsible for what unraveled

Harry Brook was “very confident” that England would win The Oval Test when he arrived at on Monday morning, but ended up looking back on his own dismissal with regret after their six-run defeat.Brook scored a swashbuckling 111 off 95 balls in a seemingly game-changing fourth-wicket stand with Joe Root on Sunday, taking England to 301 for 3 in pursuit of 374. But he miscued to mid-off while charging down and trying to hit Akash Deep over extra cover for a third consecutive boundary, and his dismissal was the first domino to fall in a collapse of 7 for 66.”My thought process was just to try and hit as many runs as quick as possible,” Brook said at the post-match presentation. “Like I said, the game’s done if we need 40 runs with me and Rooty in there; if I get out there [with 40 to win], the game’s still done. Obviously, it didn’t work. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and obviously, I wish now that I didn’t play that shot and get out.”Related

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He told the BBC’s : “At the time, I was obviously very confident. If I’d have got a quick 30 off the next two overs, then the game is done. That was my thought process. I always try and take the game on and put them under immense pressure… I wish I was there at the end, but you can’t write them things.”I had no idea that we were going to lose seven wickets for 60 runs. You’ve got arguably the best Test cricketer in the world out there at the time as well in Rooty, and in the back of my mind, [I thought] I’d try and get as many runs as quickly as possible and the game is done. I had every faith in Rooty that he was going to be there at the end.”But while Brook said he regretted his shot, Ben Stokes sprung to his player’s defence and highlighted the wider value of his attacking approach. “Harry got us into that position by playing a particular way, putting the Indian bowlers under immense pressure to take them away from being able to consistently bowl the areas that they wanted to bowl in,” he said. “I’m sure everyone was applauding him when he brought up his hundred in the way that he did. Some of the shots he played were unbelievable. The dismissal and the way that he got out was a shot that we’d seen a lot of him do in that innings, which I’m sure was getting a lot of praise.”7:00

Stokes: ‘Series great for the wider game’

Brook had a life early in his innings, picking out Mohammed Siraj at long leg on 19 only for the fielder to tread on the advertising cushion on the boundary rope while steadying himself. “I thought the match was gone,” Siraj later said. “Had we got Harry Brook out before lunch, things would have been different. There would have been no fifth day.”Instead, Brook blitzed a brilliant hundred, doubling down on his attacking approach to reach a 39-ball 50 before shifting down a gear and rotating strike with Root. His second fifty took 52 balls and brought the requirement down into double figures. Despite his dismissal, he had put England on course to complete what would have been the second-highest successful chase in their history.They were clear favourites as long as Root was at the crease, but he was caught behind for 105 late on the fourth day – looking to steer a Prasidh Krishna outswinger away for a single – before rain intervened. Even then, with 35 runs required and four wickets in hand, Brook said he was sure Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton would see England home.”I came into the day this morning very confident,” he said. “We had two very good players out there at the time, and I just thought we were going to easily see it home. The way that the Indians fought back there and the way that Siraj bowled especially, I think he deserved every success there.2:19

Miller: Woakes’ bravery epitomises the value of Test cricket

“We were thinking the bowlers would stiffen up a bit [overnight] and the pitch would be a little bit flatter, but obviously with the overcast conditions – lights on again – it started to zip around a bit. Like I said before, Siraj, he’s played five Test matches in a row, bowled 85mph-plus every ball, and he’s had a phenomenal series. I respect him a lot for what he’s done this series.”Brook was nominated as England’s Player of the Series by India’s coach Gautam Gambhir after scoring 481 runs at 53.44 in nine innings, including hundreds at Edgbaston and The Oval and 99 at Headingley. “I’ve played all right,” he said. “I could have won that game yesterday, which is devastating, but I’m just happy to contribute to as many games [as I can].”He plans to play the full Hundred season as Northern Superchargers captain – starting this week – before leading England into white-ball series against South Africa (at home) and Ireland (away). He will then finally get a short break before travelling to New Zealand for a white-ball tour, leading into the main assignments of the winter: the Ashes, then the T20 World Cup.”My first game is on Thursday, so it’s a fairly quick turnaround. We’ll see how I get on. It’s a completely different ball game,” he said. “I’ll go out there and try and work on a few things and get ready for another long winter ahead. It’s going to be awesome. We’ve got a lot of cricket to be played… There’s a lot to look forward to. Hopefully, everybody stays fit and we’ll be raring to go.”

Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro is in no doubt: Florian Wirtz "definitely" would have joined Real Madrid rather than Liverpool during the summer had he been offered the chance to follow Xabi Alonso to Santiago Bernabeu. "But Xabi has less say at Madrid than he did with us," Carro pointed out in an interview with Sport1. "One of Alonso's greatest strengths was his ability to work with our scouting department to define who needed to be in our team, but Florentino Perez decides the transfers at Madrid – not Xabi Alonso."

Consequently, Wirtz was left with three serious suitors to choose from: Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. After careful consideration, he went with the latter.

However, as Wirtz wonders – just like the rest of us – whether he'll start for Liverpool in Sunday's massive Premier League showdown with City, it is worth asking if he made a mistake moving to Anfield? And might he actually have been better off at the Etihad instead?

• Getty
  

  'Wanted to be a part of this team'

  There were many reasons why Wirtz picked Liverpool over City and Bayern. He was struck by both the quality of Arne Slot's side – and the club’s facilities – after Leverkusen were routed by the Reds in last season's Champions League. He was also blown away by the stunning scenes of celebration on Merseyside that followed Liverpool's record-equalling 20th English title triumph in May. "I just wanted to be a part of this team," he told the club's official website.

  What really won Wirtz over, though, was the promise of not just becoming a part of Slot's side, but being absolutely integral to it. According to Liverpool sources, it was the Dutchman's detailed plan for Wirtz that effectively sealed the deal.

  Whereas Wirtz reportedly had doubts over whether he would play regularly as a No.10 at Bayern because of the presence of Jamal Musiala at the Allianz Arena, he would literally be central to attacking strategy at Anfield, deployed in his preferred position just behind the centre-forward. However, Slot's plan for Wirtz appears to have already been scrapped – or at least shelved – because of Liverpool's incredibly erratic form.

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• Getty Images
  

  'Damages' Liverpool's balance

  Wirtz started Liverpool's first four games of their 2025-26 Premier League campaign – and in his familiar attacking midfield role. However, he wasn't involved in a single goal during that winning run, which inevitably led to online mockery and intense media scrutiny of his transfer fee.

  So, when the Reds' results took a serious turn for the worse, Wirtz became something of a scapegoat, even though his obvious struggles with the pace of the Premier League had absolutely nothing to do with his team's far more costly inability to deal with set-pieces.

  "I think Wirtz actually damages the balance of Liverpool and how they play," former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney said on his podcast. "He's a top player and I'm sure he will get better – but he's had a slow start and I think there's no denying that. I've seen players come into this league and it takes time.

  "But it's not the price tag. It's not the player or his ability. I just don't see where he fits into what Liverpool do in that [4-3-3] system. Is he a third midfield player? For me, no, he's more of an attacking player. So, if I have to choose between him and [Dominik] Szoboszlai, then I choose Szoboszlai."

  Worryingly for Wirtz, Slot is now favouring the Hungarian too.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Upstaged

  Amid all of the excitement surrounding Liverpool's unprecedented summer of spending, Szoboszlai became something of an after-thought. The versatile No.8 may have played a major role in last season's title triumph with his remarkable work-rate, but the presumption was that Wirtz would take his spot in Slot's starting line-up.

  The German was widely regarded as a massive – and necessary – upgrade on Szoboszlai, whose end product has been repeatedly criticised by the likes of Jamie Carragher. Even Slot stated earlier this year that he wanted more goals and assists from Szoboszlai.

  In that context, Liverpool's willingness to push the boat out to sign Wirtz made perfect sense. He was the most coveted No.10 on the market, a young man who had already proven himself highly adept at both scoring and creating goals.

  However, while Wirtz has yet to get off the mark for his new club, Szoboszlai has already scored twice, including a fantastic free-kick winner against Arsenal. Even more surprisingly, Szoboszlai, Liverpool's undisputed player of the season so far, also has twice as many assists (four) as Wirtz in all competitions.

  When one also considers that the Hungary captain played a starring role in last season's win over City at the Etihad, there appears little doubt that Slot will field his trusted title-winning trio of Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister on Sunday – particularly as they laid the foundation for the wins over Aston Villa and Real Madrid that arrested the Reds' recent slide.

  So, is Rooney right, then? Is there no room for Wirtz in Liverpool's strongest side? And if so, should he have pushed to join City despite his alleged doubts over Pep Guardiola's long-term future at the club?

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• AFP
  

  City a better fit?

  It's been widely reported that Guardiola identified Wirtz as the ideal replacement for Kevin De Bruyne, whose contract expired at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, and it would be easy to understand why. Wirtz, with his mix of industry and innovation, fits the profile for Pep’s perfect 10. So, why didn't the German end up at the Etihad?

  Well, that very much depends on who you talk to, because there are those that claim that City felt that Wirtz was overpriced at £100 million ($130m), while others insist that the player walked away from the deal because Guardiola could offer no guarantee that he'd extend his stay in Manchester beyond 2027.

  If Wirtz really did reject City, it is possible that he's regretting that decision now, given he probably would have immediately settled into one of the two attacking midfield roles in Guardiola's 4-1-4-1 formation. After all, Rayan Cherki is already enjoying a more productive start to his Premier League career than Wirtz. Despite being hindered by a thigh problem that ruled him out of action for more than a month, the Frenchman has already racked up eight direct goal involvements since signing for City just before the Club World Cup.

  As plenty of critics have been quick to point out, Liverpool were also considering signing Cherki if their audacious move for Wirtz failed to come off – and it would certainly be hard to argue against the £30m ($42m) signing from Lyon looking like a better-value buy right now.

Teenage spinner strikes with ball before adding unbeaten fifty on day Surrey surrender their title

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay25-Sep-2025Surrey 147 and 226 for 6 (Albert 61*, Abbott 4-51) lead Hampshire 248 (Washington 56) by 124 runsSurrey lost their grasp on the Rothesay County Championship trophy for the first time in 1100 days, but saw a glimpse into their future as Ralphie Albert took centre stage against Hampshire.Nottinghamshire confirmed themselves as champions midway through the evening to end Surrey’s three-season dynasty as red-ball kings. But Albert, the 17-year-old grandson of snooker icon Jimmy White, celebrated his first two first-class wickets before picking up a maiden fifty to give Surrey a chance of sending Hampshire to Division Two.The England Under 19 allrounder bowled Scott Currie and caught and bowled Kyle Abbott in the morning as Hampshire claimed a 101 first-innings lead. He then struck 61 not out during a 97-run stand with Dan Lawrence in the evening – Surrey ended the day with a 124 lead, with Hampshire needing to at least match Durham’s result to avoid relegation.After 13 wickets had fallen on the first day, on a pitch sympathetic but not overwhelmingly so for the bowlers, the second day began with a similar tone. Toby Albert couldn’t be blamed for edging a Matt Fisher in-ducker to first slip, before fellow overnight batter Ben Brown was plumb lbw three balls later.Fisher had immediately swung the momentum of the match, and gave Hampshire the relegation jitters again. Those weren’t helped when Liam Dawson swished outside his off stump three overs later but Washington Sundar and James Fuller corrected things with patience and runs.The pair put on 62 to flesh out Hampshire’s lead, but it proved the last resistance as spin went through the tail. Indian legspinner Rahul Chahar picked up his first Championship wicket when Fuller slog-swept to deep square, before Albert thudded one into Currie’s off stump.Washington waved his bat on an 89-ball fifty, but Abbott was caught and bowled before the India allrounder picked out deep midwicket off his compatriot, with Hampshire two runs shy of a batting bonus point.That near miss shouldn’t impact Hampshire’s chances of staying in Division One, with Durham also narrowly failing to get to 350, meaning that as long as Hampshire match Durham’s result they will stay up.A victory would be the most straightforward method of securing their status, and Brad Wheal appeared to be fast-forwarding his side there with two quick wickets. Rory Burns’ batting for the season was ended when he edged a good ball to first slip, before Ryan Patel hooked straight to the deep square fielder.Abbott then took over with one of his incredible spells, taking three wickets in four overs. The South African had Dom Sibley and Ben Foakes caught behind before keeping one low to castle Ollie Sykes.But Ralphie Albert and Lawrence ground out runs on the slow pitch and made the most of a ragged Hampshire session, to head towards a position from which they could win the game. Albert largely made use of space behind the wicket, but also drove through the covers beautifully, to take himself to a second professional half-century in 68 balls.Lawrence became Abbott’s fourth notch of the innings when he was bowled, but Surrey remained six down at close, while Hampshire suffered a blow as Washington damaged his hand while fielding a ball off his own bowling.

Current and former stars of the game took to social media to react to the 14-year-old opener’s century against GT

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Apr-2025

Vaibhav’s fearless approach, bat speed, picking the length early, and transferring the energy behind the ball was the recipe behind a fabulous innings.

End result: 101 runs off 38 balls.

Well played!!pic.twitter.com/MvJLUfpHmn

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) April 28, 2025