Next Celtic manager hunt LIVE as Kieran McKenna to break silence on Parkhead vacancy

McKenna to speak today

Celtic fans, you aren't short of candidates breaking their silences, are you?

Kieran McKenna, the favourite with oddsmakers, will speak at Ipswich's training ground on Thursday as he prepares the Tractor Boys for their crunch clash with QPR on Saturday.

Ipswich were among the favourites for automatic promotion but a stuttering campaign has left McKenna seeking solutions.

What will he say? Stick with us to find out.

Martin's winning psychology

Beaming Martin O'Neill labelled Callum McGregor a "brilliant" player after experiencing the Celtic skipper up close as he heaped praise on the Parkhead leader.

And his effusive remarks earned acclaim from Peter Grant, as he reckoned the 73-year-old tapped into his famed "psychology" by choosing to lavish praise on the famed skipper days after the sudden departure of mentor Brendan Rodgers.

O'Neill was beaming after his side's 4-0 trouncing over Falkirk and saved his kindest words for McGregor.

Some of our players are really good, you know sometimes you watch the team from the side? I've come up occasionally during the last couple of years to watch players, you think 'he's good', then you realise 'hey, he's really good'. Like the captain of the side, he's actually a brilliant player.

And Grant loved what he heard from the famed boss who is aiming to lead Celtic into a seventh Hampden Final under his watch.

The wee nugget, talking about the captain, who I think has been excellent in the last two games. Callum McGregor, no one is even mentioning Callum, but he has mentioned it, that's his experience, because he knows there has been a lot of pressure on his shoulders. These things are so important.

Celtic TV host Gerry McCulloch labelled it the "psychology" of a football manager which Grant heartily agreed with.

For whom the Bell tolls

The man heading up the hunt for Celtic’s next manager has identified Wales boss Craig Bellamy as one of the leading targets, writes Keith Jackson.

Record Sport understands the Parkhead club’s head of football operations Paul Tisdale is drawing up a short list of potential candidates following the shock axing of Brendan Rodgers on Monday night.

And Bellamy has emerged already as a person of considerable interest.

Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna was made the early front runner but we revealed yesterday that it would cost around £5m in compensation in order to plunder the 39-year-old and his backroom staff from Portman Road.

While cash rich Celtic would not necessarily be scared off by such a whopping fee it’s believed a deal to release Bellamy from his contract with the Welsh FA would be more affordable even though it still has three more years to run.

Bellamy, however, would have to be convinced to leave his country in the lurch at a time when they are chasing down a place in next summer’s World Cup Finals.

With just two games to go Belgium are red hot favourites to win Group J after a dramatic 4-2 win in Cardiff earlier this month but Bellamy’s side would be guaranteed a play-off place with back-to-back wins over Liechtenstein and North Macedonia.

Those crunch games take place on November 15 and 18 but if Wales do successfully claim a runners up spot then Bellamy would be expected to hang around to finish off the job in the play-offs in March.

And that would effectively rule him out of contention for the Celtic job despite the arrival of Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney as an interim management team to hold the fort on a short term basis.

Bellamy then would have to be prepared to walk away from his current position in order to make the move back to Glasgow’s east end, where he played under O’Neill during a loan spell 20 years ago in the Irishman’s final season in charge.

O’Neill’s surprise second coming begins tonight when Celic face Falkirk at Parkhead needing a win to keep on the coattails of storming pace setters Hearts.

But the stand-in boss has already suggested that the club will be looking for a younger, aspiring young manager to take the job on a more permanent basis and Bellamy certainly fits that profile.

The 46-year-old has been widely praised for the work he has done since taking over his national side. He cut his teeth as a coach working under former Manchester City team mate Vincent Kompany at Belgian side Anderlecht.

The pair teamed up for a second time at Burnley where Bellamy was installed as first team coach.

Following Burnley’s relegation from the English top flight - and Kompany’s subsequent departure to Bayern Munich - Bellamy was appointed by Wales on a four year deal last summer.

He got off to a flying start becoming the first Wales boss in history to remain unbeaten in his first four games in charge.

The prospect of a return to the coal face of club football with Celtic, however, could prove difficult for him to turn down in spite of his early successes on the international stage.

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