SHAUN MALONEY is poised to return to Celtic in a senior backroom role.

SunSport understands the former Hoops star is in line to succeed Darren O’Dea as the club’s professional player pathway manager.


Maloney, 42, has been out of work since being sacked by Wigan Athletic in March.

He was heavily linked with the Dundee job this summer but is now set to make an emotional return to Celtic.

Maloney came through the Hoops youth ranks and made his debut under Martin O'Neill in 2001.

He won eight major honours during a decade in the Celtic first-team - interrupted by a 18-month stint at Aston Villa - and played in the 2003 Uefa Cup final.


Capped 47 times by Scotland, he also played for Wigan, Chicago Fire and Hull City during a long career at the top.

Maloney started his coaching career with Celtic under-20s during Brendan Rodgers’ first stint at the club - with the Parkhead boss hailing his “fantastic” work.

He then left to take up a role with Roberto Martinez’s Belgium coaching team.

Maloney had a brief stint as Hibs boss in season 2021/22 and was then appointed as Wigan gaffer in January 2023


His Latics reign ended three months ago but he is now set to return to Celtic in the professional player pathway manager role.

This will see Maloney be tasked with the job of guiding the Hoops’ brightest prospects, which includes responsibility for managing loans.


O’Dea recently left his position to become Swansea City No2 but Rodgers could fill the role quickly.

Speaking last year, Maloney revealed the Celtic gaffer had been a huge influence since giving him his coaching break in 2017.



He said: "Brendan’s a brilliant manager – tactically very good, particularly whenever I went to him with a query.

"We’ve stayed in touch, and he was brilliant to speak with before I took the manager’s job at Hibernian – as he was during my time there and after I left."

 

Seems a bit of a fall from grace for him. Hopefully picked up plenty knowledge from his various coaching jobs.

As ever, strange that the best candidate for the job is once again one of the old bhoys...

 

To be fair he's supposedly a very good coach (doesn't always translate to management), came through as mentioned and was a quality player....who youngsters should feed off. Someone like McArdle for example could learn a lot from a guy like Maloney..

No problem with this..

 

"One of the old bhoys"

As in someone who was in the very position these young lads are in, as in someone who managed to make the first team and become an established regular.

Seems like a good enough qualification for me, as long as they can actually coach.

 

What sort of bunce does that job pay I wonder ....always curious about these types of roles and the salary. 60-100k a year ?

 

Good news. I was getting worried the jobs for the bhoys culture was disappearing

 

Is the only criteria for this job being an ex player?

This isn't even a coaching role why the * are we giving football managers jobs finding loans for players and monitoring their development?

 

Maloney has plenty experience outside Celtic though

 

He does and if he was coming back in a proper full time coaching role id be pretty happy with that but I could be wrong but my idea of the role of pathway manager was to get talented young players to * out of that pishy lowland league and securing them loan deals and suitable clubs and then monitoring them over the course of the season.

Maybe iv totally misread the role, I thought it was going to he something similar to the job Fergal Harkin was doing at Man city bcoz I think that's a role that needs doing.

 

Don't usually like 'Jobs for the Bhoys' but this one makes sense to me..

Didn't work in management.. but rated coach, intelligent, articulate, experienced, knows our game and pathway..etc

 

Although it's another ex-player returning at least Maloney has experience of various coaching settings and Rodgers seemed to like working with him the first time.

 

Does anyone actually know what this role involves ? Was it not just a job made up to keep O'Dea employed when Mcmanus took sole charge of the B team

 

Decent cover for left winger

 

A position generated to pay lip service.

Maloney may, or may not, be good for this role. But as others say, it's quite interesting how most positions within the club are made up of ex players/staff with little experience for the roles they are hired to perform in.

Will Maloney make a good pathway manager (as others question, it's surely not an actual coaching role), maybe? He at least would know what a decent club to send a youngster to is.

But I also question his "fall from grace" he's given coaching and management a good go, coaching seems better suited, but still young to make it as a manager, I'd question the desire for him to give this role his all. Or is it gonna be a position we give to someone down on his luck, til he finds a manager/Asst job somewhere more exciting for him?


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I get the gripes about jobs for ex players but for me while obviously Maloney is an ex player that gripe does not apply in this case. I think this is a great appointment. From a Celtic perspective we are talking about a player who was exceptional as a player for us and who came all the way through the academy so he literally knows what it takes to make it. Since then he has gone into coaching and when you look at his CV and who he has worked alongside this is a guy who has built tremendous experience and will I think be a step forward for us in an area of our club that is in really dreadful shape at the moment.

 

Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce that Shaun Maloney has been appointed as the club’s new Professional Player Pathway Manager, with the aim of developing the progression of players at the club.

Shaun will work closely with Paul Tisdale, our Head of Football Operations, Men's First Team Manager, Brendan Rodgers, Chris McCart, our Head of Academy and the club’s B Team and Academy Coaches and, in this hugely important role, he will work to ensure the effective development of players to play for Celtic.

Through the maintenance of strong relationships with clubs across leagues, both domestically and internationally, the role will also manage loan opportunities which support player pathway and development opportunities.

Shaun himself came through the ranks at Celtic before making more than 200 first team appearances and winning 5 League titles and 3 League Cups with the Club.

He has also played for Aston Villa and Wigan in the English Premier League as well as having spells in the English Championship and the MLS. Following the end of Shaun’s playing career, he held management positions at Wigan Athletic and Hibernian FC.

Shaun said: “It is a huge honour to be given this opportunity to return to Celtic, in a role which I am really passionate about.

“My aim will be to work really closely between our Academy and the First Team and create the very best opportunities for success, which will ultimately be represented by more and more players reaching our first team environment.

“I have been fortunate enough to follow this same pathway and I am now excited about ensuring many more young players can take this same journey.”

Paul Tisdale, Celtic’s Head of Football Operations added: “I am delighted that we have been able to bring Shaun back to the club in this role.

“Shaun will be tasked with developing the internal and external processes necessary to ensure we optimise the talents of our young players.

“Through his experience and knowledge, we believe Shaun will add significant value to the role”.

Welcoming Shaun back to Celtic, Manager, Brendan Rodgers said: “I am really pleased to welcome Shaun to this post. He is someone I believe will make a great contribution to the club in this area.

“He is an intelligent guy who knows what it takes to be a successful Celtic player and I think his experience will be invaluable in this role.

“He has all the credentials to be really successful in positively developing our younger players.”

 

Hopefully not our heading coach

 

A great assett for us both on and off the pitch HH

 

Interesting that they put Tisdale front and centre of the announcement. Seems positive for all those looking for evidence of his existence.