Enzo Maresca was the interim Celtic manager before Brendan Rodgers emerged as the front-runner.
The Italian, who was the manager of Manchester City at the time, talked out about the job with the Hoops more than anyone else. It was widely believed that we would hire Ange Postecoglou’s replacement in the similar manner after our success with the City Football Group.
The conversation was sincere at the time, and there were rumors that we would contact him following City’s victory over Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final. Maresca had a strong chance of succeeding us as manager. He had a respectable playing and coaching resume to fall back on, but there were also a lot of unknowns. Many believed he wouldn’t be up to the Celtic job after his disastrous six-month stint at Parma in Serie B. We will never be able to determine how he would have performed in Glasgow. Brendan Rodgers was chosen as the club’s manager, and most of us are pleased with that decision. There are unmistakable symptoms after a relatively modest start.
Ironically, Maresca ended up in Leicester. Currently, the Foxes play in the second division of English football, although that doesn’t seem to be the case for very long. They are operating under the Italian, who has already demonstrated quite a bit. Yes, his team outspends the rest of the division in both money and talent. However, Leicester has so far this season won 12 of its 14 games across all competitions. It’s been a great start for Marecsa considering one of their two losses was in the cup away to Liverpool. They are ten points outside the spots for automatic promotion while leading the Championship. Maresca managing in the Premier League next year appears highly likely. He has dispelled the doubts and ambiguities that existed about him in the early going of the season.
This, in my opinion, shows that the Celtic board is now keeping an eye out for good managers. Rodgers is probably going to turn out to be just as wise a choice as Postecoglou was. If we had taken that route, Maresca seems to have been as well. Bravo to everyone involved. But let’s hope it will be a few years before we have to start looking for a new manager. Before that, Rodgers had a lot of games to win.
