Celtic remain in the hunt for a new permanent head coach ahead of next season

Former Celtic player Johan Mjallby has backed Graham Potter to become the next manager of the Hoops. The Glasgow giants are in the hunt for a new permanent head coach. Martin O’Neil remains in caretaker charge until a full-time successor for Wilfried Nancy is sounded out.

They are sat in 3rd place in the Scottish Premiership table. They find themselves behind Hearts and Rangers as the race for the title heats up. O’Neil’s men won 1-0 away at Stuttgart in the Europa League on Thursday night and were knocked out on aggregate.

Graham Potter backed for Celtic job

When asked about Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou’s chances of landing the Celtic job, Mjallby said on TNT Sports: “He’s done a remarkable job with Motherwell this season, but is he a big name? He’s not a big name. Right now, he’s in a quite nice environment, and he’s doing really well with limited resources at Motherwell. Yes, of course, they play great football.

“Can you do that at Celtic? I don’t know. Has he got the name for it? Has he won any medals? Celtic is a club, where if things aren’t going great for you, the pressure is there. So I can’t really say if Askou is the right guy. The way they play football? Yes. But is he mentally strong enough to take the Celtic job without being used to winning? I don’t know.

“But if it was Graham Potter, I would [go for] him. Because I don’t know if he’s interested in the Celtic job, but he’s a good name.”

Would Celtic appoint Graham Potter?

It remains to be seen at this stage whether Celtic would be interested in Potter. He is currently in charge of the Sweden national team. They are in the play-offs for the World Cup and if they fail to qualify, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him become available again.

The 50-year-old spent his playing days as a defender for the likes of Birmingham City, Stoke City and West Brom. He hung up his boots back in 2005 after a final stint at Macclesfield Town. The Solihull-born man has since delved into the managerial world.

Potter started out in Scandinavia with Ostersunds before moving back to England to work at Swansea City and Brighton and Hove Albion. He did impressive jobs with both the Swans and the Seagulls. However, his two most recent club posts at Chelsea and West Ham didn’t go to plan and he may now feel like he has a point to prove in the game.