Another candidate for the Celtic job has emerged – this is why he might be the perfect fit

Quite a few names have been thrown about since the Celtic job became vacant following Brendan Rodgers’ sudden and acrimonious departure from Parkhead – but the latest name to come up in the press may be both the least familiar to a Scottish audience and the best suggestion yet.

Ange Postecoglou appears to be an option, although the Celtic board may be wary of another retread and it’s debatable whether his high-intensity style would suit the current squad. Kieran McKenna has come up, too, and is an appealing option but isn’t exactly averse to a high press himself and may be difficult to strike a deal for. Which could make Nicky Hayen the best candidate in the field…

Who is Celtic’s managerial target Nicky Hayen – and what are his tactics?

Hayen may not be a well-known name in Scotland or England, but the Club Brugge manager would be familiar to many in Wales – it was the Cymru Premier League which offered him a career springboard after a difficult period in his career in management.

The former defender, who spent most of his career with Sint-Truiden, has been in coaching since 2013 but didn’t find it easy to make a name for himself, bouncing around the lower echelons of the Belgian league system with varying success. When a spell at his former club ended after just six games and four defeats and was followed by a difficult spell with minnows Waasland-Beveren, he found an unlikely place to rebuild with Haverfordwest County.

So impressive was the now 45-year-old’s work that he was picked out by Club Brugge to manage their Under-23 team, Club NXT, the top end of the most distinguished academy systems in Europe. Then, in March 2024, he was made caretaker manager of the senior team following the sacking of Ronny Delia – a former Celtic manager himself, perhaps ironically – and never looked back.

Hayen sealed the club’s 19th Belgian Pro League title, was named the Belgian Coach of the Year, and went on to lead his side to second place in the top flight the following season while also lifting the Belgian Cup and leading his team to the last 16 of the Champions League, where they were knocked out by Aston Villa. Hayen has already led Brugge back into the Champions League this season, as Rangers fans are only too aware – they were beaten 9-1 on aggregate in qualifying and utterly outmatched in every department.

Tactically, Hayen defaults to a 4-2-3-1 formation using overlapping full-backs to get forward outside of a pair of inverted wingers, who provide a large portion of the goals, and a double pivot behind a number 10 in midfield. Patient and economical build-up are the watchwords, and he doesn’t ask his team to press unusually hard up the pitch – that might suit a team lacking in dedicated ball-winners outside of Callum McGregor.

There are some points of tension between his system and Celtic’s squad. At full-back, for instance, Kieran Tierney isn’t naturally inclined to hit the byline on the overlap even if his crossing is exceptionally accurate (Club Brugge have crossed an average of 20 times in the league this season, a high number which hints at the importance of getting balls into the box in Hayen’s system) while Anthony Ralston would be more comfortable positionally but isn’t as precise with his final ball.

Not that Hayen is a dogmatist. This season, for instance, he has adapted to losing winger Chemsdine Talbi to Sunderland by letting his replacement, Carlos Forbs, play much wider that Hayen’s wingers usually do, with the right-back playing a deeper, underlapping role to facilitate Forbs’ natural inclinations. Hayen has his core methods, but unlike Postecoglou will not attempt to hammer square pegs into round holes. Where the personnel don’t line up with his ideas, he will likely adapt. Given the defects in Celtic’s squad right now, that versatility may be a necessity for any new hire.

Will Hayen make the move to Celtic?

The link between Celtic and Hayen was first reported by Belgian newspaper Die Nieuwsblad, with their report from Wednesday claiming that there was “concrete” interest in bringing the 45-year-old to Scotland.

On paper, a move from Club Brugge to Celtic is not an obvious forward step right now. Club Brugge are in the Champions League and they are second in the Pro League as they push for a historic 20th title – and the three-point gap that Hayen’s current side must make up to win their division is half as daunting of a gap as the six points by which Celtic trail Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.

Still, Hayen has openly acknowledged that he is open to another overseas adventure should an interesting opportunity arise, and when asked directly about Celtic he hardly shut the idea down.

“As long as nothing is concrete, I don't have to think about anything,” he said. “Never say never in football, but I'm eager to win that 20th league title here. Although you always have to leave the door open in football.”

In the argot of football management, suggesting that one always has to leave the door open may as well be a come-and-get-me plea. The question is whether Celtic represent the right next step for him, not whether he is open to managing outside of Belgium again.

He is unlikely to be a cheap appointment, either. Hayen signed a new contract with Club Brugge in June and his club would demand significant compensation for his release. Perhaps that’s money that could be better spent rebuilding the soporific attack after Nicolas Kühn, Adam Idah and Kyogo Furuhashi departed without adequate replacement over the summer.

Still, Hayen looks like a potentially superb appointment. He’s a detail-oriented, obsessive coach but one known for being affable and easy to work with. He’s flexible enough to make sense of Celtic’s disjointed squad, and he has overseen some highly impressive results in Belgium while racking up a 61.7% win rate in Brugge. There are reasonable doubts over other candidates, but few beyond availability with Hayen. Perhaps they’ve found the ideal man to take over from Rodgers already.