John Kennedy 'down the pecking order' for Celtic job after Rangers draw

John Kennedy may have harmed his chances of becoming the next permanent Celtic manager by failing to beat Rangers in the Old Firm derby.
Celtic interim manager John Kennedy on the touchline during the Scottish Premiership match against Rangers at Celtic Park. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Celtic interim manager John Kennedy on the touchline during the Scottish Premiership match against Rangers at Celtic Park. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Celtic interim manager John Kennedy on the touchline during the Scottish Premiership match against Rangers at Celtic Park. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

That's according to Celtic legend Pat Bonner, who reckons the match was a chance for the current interim boss to stake a claim for the role full-time.

Celtic enjoyed the lions share of possession and chances but were unable to convert their superiority into the victory that would have ended Rangers' hope of completing an 'invincible' league campaign.

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"I just wonder what's going through John Kennedy's mind now from a point of view of the job, whether that's now probably ended that chance for him, maybe, in the sense that he didn't win this Old Firm game at Celtic Park especially," Bonner said.

"He may do it at Ibrox, who knows, but those are the games that you look back and say 'they're the ones we should have won.' From his perspective, if he can't do it, then he goes down that pecking order a little bit I think."

Bonner also urged the Celtic board to make an appointment now rather than waiting for new chief executive Dominic McKay to take over in July.

"If they are going after somebody that's out of a job, get him in now," he told BBC Sportsound.

"Forget the next five games. That can be used as a period where you assess what you have at the moment, see where the gaps are, know the players you're going to be after coming in. So you can use the next two months to get that right.

"They can't obviously if they are going after somebody else and he's in a job, but the work has still got to go on. The work of recruiting players, but that's the challenge.

"The new chief executive isn't going to come in till July, whether he's going to be involved. Would the fans at this moment in time accept Peter Lawell making the decision?

"The quicker they get these big decisions made and get the leadership into positions, that's up to them to make those decisions, and stick with them whether right or wrong. If they don't get the decisions made quickly then fans will be questioning things."

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