Neil Lennon has been busy working as a World Cup pundit with the BBC since leaving his job as Celtic manager last month, but there has been no shortage of candidates lining up to succeed him.
My 6yo brother wrote to @celticfc about becoming new manager, and club sent this back. Will put a smile on his face! pic.twitter.com/M5wIcwM1wJ
— Ciarán Headridge (@CiaranHeadridge) June 18, 2014
Roy Keane, Henrik Larsson, David Moyes, Owen Coyle and Steve Clarke were all linked with the chance to manage the former European Cup holders before the Scottish champions opted for young Norwegian coach Ronny Deila.
There would have been a few disappointed figures about not landing the post, but six-year-old Aiden Headridge was taking not getting the post in his stride.
Especially when the Dundee lad was sent a letter by the Glasgow club’s chief executive Peter Lawwell explaining his decision to opt for Deila along with a new Celtic shirt.
His brother Ciaran prompted plenty of interest when he tweeted a picture of the letter.
“As you will know, we have appointed Ronny Deila as the new football manager,” said Lawwell in his letter to Aiden.
“I believe Ronny has the knowledge, enthusiasm and confidence that is necessary to take the club forward and deliver continued success.
“I am really pleased to learn that you would like to be the Celtic manager and maybe one day that will happen.
“In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying school and are looking forward to the summer holidays.”
His proud mum Lynne thanked Celtic for taking the time to respond to her bhoy.
Lynne 37, told STV: “He hasn’t seen the letter yet, but he will be bouncing off the walls when he does.
“He’s a crazy-mad Celtic fan, it’s all I ever hear about – Celtic this, Celtic that. He’s obsessed.
“When he wrote the letter we thought that we’d just indulge him a bit, he loves them so much he thought he could do a good job at managing them.
“We didn’t expect a reply never mind a shirt too.
“He really just wants to play for Celtic – it’s all I’ve ever heard him talk about doing. It’s amazing that a club the size of Celtic still takes time for its littlest fans like Aiden.
“He goes to the matches quite a lot, but I imagine that you’re quite anonymous there. It will feel really personal to him when he sees the letter.
“I don’t think he’ll ever take the shirt off – he’ll probably watch it spinning around the washing machine until he can wear it again.”
Some will say winning the Scottish Premiership is already child’s play for Celtic. A feel-good story, but you would have thought he should at least have been given an interview.
