Next Celtic Manager Odds: Kieran McKenna is the new favourite

Ange Postecoglou was made favourite to become Celtic's next manager after Brendan Rodgers’ resignation was announced by the Glasgow club on Monday night, but the market has fluctuated massively in the hours since.

Postecoglou has been unemployed for just ten days following his disastrous 39-day reign at Nottingham Forest, but bet365 made him their 7-4 market leader after Rodgers’ departure was confirmed, before cutting him into evens following early support.

He has since, however, been pushed back out to 15-8, with Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna shortening from 16-1 to 2-1 throughout Tuesday before being made the 10-11 favourite with bet365 on Wednesday morning.

News of Rodgers’ resignation was accompanied by an extraordinary statement from Dermot Desmond, the club’s largest individual shareholder, who questioned the Northern Irishman’s conduct and labelled him “divisive, misleading and self-serving".

Former boss Martin O’Neill will take charge on an interim basis, starting on Wednesday when Celtic, who are eight points behind Hearts after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat that hastened Rodgers’ departure, face Falkirk at Celtic Park.

Veteran coach O’Neill managed the club from 2000 to 2005 and is 14-1 to be Celtic’s next permanent manager, while Shaun Maloney, who has come in as an interim assistant, is 12-1.

Martin O'Neill is back in the Celtic dugout for the first time in 20 yearsCredit: Getty Images

McKenna might be the right man for the job

McKenna's name was hardly being touted following Rodgers' resignation but his odds have fallen rapidly since, dropping to 10-11 from 16-1 with bet365.

His Ipswich side have made a shaky start to the Championship season but he had overachieved with the Tractor Boys in the past and is an astute tactician, capable of making clever in-game changes on the fly.

The Northern Irishman will take a lot of convincing to leave Portman Road, where he is a much-loved figure, but it could finally be time for him to make the move to a bigger club and would represent a smart appointment as his measured demeanour will appease those who liked Rodgers while his attacking tactics may make him as popular as Postecoglou.

Both Rodgers and Postecoglou prefer a 4-3-3 system but McKenna's favoured system is a marginally different 4-2-3-1. He looks to create chances from wide thanks to overlapping full-backs and ensures at least one of his midfielders stays back to avoid getting hit on the counter.

Sam Morsy did that latter job excellently at Portman Road and Celtic captain Callum McGregor should be able to adapt his game to fulfil the role north of the border.

Creative wide men like Wes Burns, Jaden Philogene and Nathan Broadhead have excelled under McKenna, so that should be good news for Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti while Daizen Maeda should be a perfect fit to play in the hole behind whichever striker the Northern Irishman opts for.

McKenna has done more than enough at Ipswich to land a job at a big club and, with the Tractor Boys struggling, now could be the perfect time for him to move on.

Is Postecoglou a perfect fit?

Football changes quickly and had Rodgers departed in the summer, rehiring Postecoglou, just weeks after his Europa League triumph with Tottenham, would have represented a real coup.

However, plenty has happened since and a dreadful spell with Nottingham Forest will be fresh in the minds of many Bhoys fans who once worshipped the Aussie tactician.

Following Nuno Espirito Santo, who had just led the Reds to their best season since the nineties, was a tough gig but Forest hardly have a squad short of talent, so six losses and no wins in eight games must be regarded a woeful record.

The defeats in that run include games against Swansea, Sunderland and Midtjylland, with the haphazard defending which plagued his spell with Spurs coming back to the fore.

Forest averaged 54 per cent possession per game under Postecoglou – that has since dropped to 49 per cent with Sean Dyche at the helm – but they conceded 18 goals during a fairly kind eight-fixture run.

Celtic’s average possession per game figure of 72 is 13 higher than any Scottish Premiership team, bar Rangers (65) who had their own issues with possession-over-substance under former manager Russell Martin, so it is hard to see why more of the ball would result in more points.

Robbie Keane's Ferencvaros are above Celtic in the Europa League standingsCredit: Photonews via Getty Images

Time for a fresh face?

Postecoglou won just three of his 14 main-tournament European games with Celtic, conceding a mammoth 35 goals in that time, and siding with a manager with fresh ideas could be a smarter move from the Bhoys board.

Despite often being unfancied, Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros continue to impress in Europe, winning ten of their 15 non-qualifying games under the Ireland legend.

Keane, briefly a Celtic player in 2010, has made a bright start to life as manager and the 3-1 shot’s methods would likely be easier to teach to this current Bhoys squad.

The morning's biggest market-mover was Wilfried Nancy, who was cut from 6-1 to 3-1 by Coral before being pushed back out to 8-1, and his emphasis on building a solid defence before catching teams on the transition could also prove to be a decent fit at Celtic.

Nancy, who led Columbus Crew to the MLS Cup in 2023, looks to overload defences by creating triangles out wide and those methods would certainly lead to plenty of goals in Scotland, while the flexibility and sturdiness of his 3-4-3 formation may also suit European football perfectly.

Fixing a defence which has conceded eight goals in nine league games is the main aim, with the Bhoys having shipped only 14 more than that in 33 Premiership matches last term.

That will be why O’Neill, the interim boss who was last permanent manager of a side in 2019, is among the market leaders.

O’Neill would probably shore things up in the interim but Celtic tend to make more ambitious appointments, so it would be a major surprise to see the Northern Irishman, Damien Duff or Erik ten Hag, land the job.

They say never go back and after the return of Rodgers ended unceremoniously, there is every chance a Postecoglou reinstatement might go the same way.

It’s time for Celtic to look forwards, not back.