Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell risks continuing the Hoops’ horror show by hiring former Everton boss Marco Silva to replace Neil Lennon at the Parkhead helm.
What’s the word?
According to The Scotsman, Silva is in the running to succeed Lennon at the Glasgow powerhouse, with the Northern Irishman’s sacking deemed inevitable amid a season of utter carnage for the nine-in-a-row title-holders.
Silva would be expected to demand a substantial salary to take charge at Parkhead in search of overturning Rangers’ 11-point Premiership lead, as Celtic strive to win a record 10th-straight top-flight title following their 13-point winning margin last term.
Silva has been out of work since being fired by Everton in 2019, where he oversaw a win rate of only 40% thanks to just 24 victories in 60 games across all competitions – losing more often than he won, with 25 defeats and 11 draws next to his name.
The Portuguese was further dismissed from his position in charge of Watford in 2018, feeling the 43-year-old’s head was turned by an approach from Everton, while walking out on Hull City in 2017 after failing to prevent relegation from the Premier League.
Lennon would not have been surprised if Celtic had opted to fire him following last weekend’s defeat to Ross County, with the Hoops eliminated from the League Cup to the fury of supporters who clashed with police whilst protesting for his sacking.
“Not in my heart of hearts [did I think it was over] but I could understand if that would have been the case, yes,” Lennon said, via quotes by Sky Sports. “I am very grateful [for Lawwell and the club’s backing]. They are not a board that sack managers for the sake of it."
Continuing Celtic horror show
Should the feeling change in Celtic’s hierarchy and Lawwell along with majority owner Dermot Desmond decide to fire Lennon, replacing the Northern Irishman with Silva would be a grave error that would only serve to see the Hoops’ horror show continue.
Silva was hired to turn Everton’s fortunes around after fans bemoaned the tenure of former England manager Sam Allardyce, promising to bring a more exciting brand of football to Goodison Park.
Yet all the Portuguese offered was continual defensive woes, with no Premier League side conceding more often from set-pieces than Everton during his maiden term in charge, while turning the Toffees into one of the English top-flight’s most predictable outfits for favouring hopeful balls into the box without any real care or attention for where they will land.
Silva was well aware of his side’s defensive struggles, noting via Sky Sports: “No one is happy when you are conceding goals like we have conceded. They were the same [players as] last season with the fourth-best defence in [the] Premier League, the fourth team with the least goals conceded in the Premier League last season and we achieved that [by] working hard, improving, learning from the not so good things we did and learning from some mistakes.
“But suddenly we start to concede some goals and some of them [are] sloppy, but they are already done, and we work on that, we analysis and we are working to keep improving to become a solid team.”
Celtic can ill-afford to appoint Silva to replace Lennon and risk the Portuguese bringing his defensive struggles to Parkhead, where the Hoops have already allowed 68% of the total 19 goals shipped in the Premiership last term in 43% of the games played.
The Glasgow giants have allowed three or more goals to be scored in a single match on multiple occasions, too, with Paris Saint-Germain and twice Sparta Prague netting four, while Aberdeen and AC Milan have each struck three.
If Lawwell and Desmond have any lingering hopes of ten-in-a-row, Silva is not the man to answer their calls.