Roberto Martinez is worth the risk at Celtic

Graham Spiers

Last Tuesday morning at 11.44am - I checked back from my phone records - I sent Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, who at the time was chasing Owen Coyle to be the next Celtic manager, the following impertinent text message: "Peter take note: Roberto Martinez is the rising star of football managers in Britain."

In The Times the next day, putting together a panel of the possible candidates in the wake of Gordon Strachan's abrupt Celtic Park exit, I included Martinez alongside the other usual suspects, simply because he was talented, an intriguing figure, financially "gettable" in the context of Celtic, as well as a classic "left-field" candidate.

I'm not sure if what happened subsequently was a case of life imitating art - in all humility, probably not - but suddenly, out of nowhere, Lawwell and Celtic are on Martinez's case. The Celtic chief executive has been thoroughly brassed off by the Swansea City chairman, Huw Jenkins, happily babbling to the media about Celtic wanting to speak to his exciting young manager - obviously, when Lawwell said to Jenkins, "now remember, Huw, not a word about this to anyone" he wasn't of a mood to comply - and the cat is now out of the bag.

Celtic still have Coyle and Tony Mowbray as their main targets, but Martinez is an exiting other option. In his two and a half years at Swansea he has crafted a talented, stylish team, taken them back up into the second tier of English football for the first time in 24 years, and just finished eighth in the Coca-Cola Championship in their first season there. In football circles Martinez's name has been increasingly quoted in the past six months - not least when his team knocked defending champions, Portsmouth, out of the FA Cup - and Celtic are quite right to explore the possibility of luring him to Glasgow.

One other intrigue about the 35-year-old Spaniard is that he knows Scotland and the SPL scene. Martinez spent a now long-forgotten season in 2001-02 at Motherwell as a player, hardly being able to force his way into Billy Davis's team back then, and certainly making no impression on the Scottish media. This mere accident of history, nonetheless, ticks another box for Celtic.

If it transpires that Martinez is appointed as the next Celtic manager there is no doubt that it would represent a risk. For all his enticing and youthful talent, he could come to Celtic and crash and burn at such a big club. Swansea City are paltry by comparison. If Paul Le Guen, previously the winner of three successive French titles at Lyons, and touted all over Europe for jobs in 2006, represented a risk in being appointed at Rangers, then how much more of a gamble would Martinez be?

It may be a time for gambling, however. If Coyle and Mowbray remain inaccessible to Celtic then they have to start thinking laterally. Results will define everything, of course, but the truth is the Celtic support would really take to Martinez. They would be roused by the young Catalan - not least for this being Martinez's Spanish background - and absolutely root for him.

There would be a hint of a Martin O'Neill coming to Parkhead scenario about a Martinez appointment, in the sense of Celtic's supporters believing that something new and thoroughly dramatic was unfolding before them. So let's wait and see what the next few days bring.

Memo to Peter Lawwell: "Martinez is a good shout. Would require £7m summer transfer kitty. Prepare to have biscuit-tin on standby."

Comments

[Swansong]

Memo to Graham Spiers: Celtic can keep their hands off him!!!!

[paul]

Martinez would suit celtic perfectly, young enthusiastic talented and someone who wants football played the right way - and on the way up.

[Alex]

£7m transfer kitty? Is this a village team?

[Martin]

Martinez would indeed be an intriguing appointment, he certainly has shown the ability to deliver with his exciting brand of pass and move football; yet I can't help but feel a young former player and an experienced foreign coach is the way to go this time around, I'm thinking Beenhaker and Larsson?......

[Dan]

You're right about martinez being a talented manager. I don't think Celtic are a superclub though or that Swansea are paltry by comparison - they have a similar transfer budget and some talented players. They could also make the play offs with a signing or two and some luck and then the decision to go to the spl would have been a mistake - as it 'is paltry by comparison' with the English prem.

[Martin]

"They could also make the play offs with a signing or two and some luck and then the decision to go to the spl would have been a mistake - as it 'is paltry by comparison' with the English prem."
-------------------------

Great, so Martinez will be relishing the prospect of a relegation on his CV, IF Swansea were to negotiate promotion to the Premiership next season?!

Battling relegation from the first game of the season is hardly comparable to fighting for trophies, no matter the league that it takes place in.

The very top level of clubs in the Premiership are at a level far beyond that of Celtic, but there is absolutely no glamour in the Premiership outwith the top 4 teams - watching Blackburn and Birmingham struggle to retain posession or even pass the ball next season is hardly going to be the pinnacle of World football!

[Tom H]

Martinez is a rising star but I think he is far more likely to try to land a premier league role even if that is with Wigan.
Tony Mowbray assisted by Peter Grant would be my number one pick as both these guys are motivational.
Mark McGhee would be my back up if these guys did not land at Celtic Park but I sense he is Aberdeen bound.
As for Tony Adams....I think I would rather have Tony Bennett !!!

[JG]

It looks as though Martinez is heading for Wigan but that can only be a stepping stone to greater things as Wigan will never do anything but struggle to finisg mid-table.
He would be better off going to Celtic where the fans would love his style of play.