Next Celtic manager: Rafa Benitez? Frank Lampard? Steve Clarke? BBC pundit gives take on key candidates

Michael Stewart believes the lure of taking Scotland to the 2022 World Cup could be enough to keep Steve Clarke from being tempted by the vacant manager’s role at Celtic.

Steve Clarke is one of the favourites to take over from Neil Lennon at Celtic. Picture: SNS

The national team boss is one of the favourites to take over from Neil Lennon, who resigned from the reigning Scottish champions on Wednesday.

Clarke previously worked wonders with Kilmarnock and got Scotland to its first major international tournament since 1998 by defeating Serbia in the Euro 2020 play-off.

Stewart reckons the 57-year-old would be put off by the timing as he wouldn’t have much time to take over after the Euros before Celtic’s season got underway.

He wrote in a BBC column discussing the candidates: “Rafa Benitez has done some incredible work. To land him, it would probably take principal shareholder Dermot Desmond pulling out the stops and saying, ‘What do you want? Right, there you go.’

“Like any top name, he would look for assurances and guarantees. But he might view Celtic as a place to enjoy himself, finish his career and sail off into the sunset.

“Frank Lampard is young and relatively inexperienced, but I think he’d be looking at Celtic as an opportunity to move back down south fairly quickly.

“I’m loath to bring up Steve Clarke, but it’s inevitable he will be discussed. He’s been successful with Scotland as well and not only do the Euros finish days before Celtic’s first prospective Champions League qualifier but the World Cup is only next year.

“That would certainly help entice Clarke to stay put, but I would imagine Celtic will definitely look to speak to him.”

Message from the editor

Get a year of unlimited access to all The Scotsman's sport coverage without the need for a full subscription. Expert analysis of the biggest games, exclusive interviews, live blogs, transfer news and 70 per cent fewer ads on Scotsman.com - all for less than £1 a week. Subscribe to us today