given that there's no such thing as a wrong­ opinion, i just think that there are too many questions­ about him. I know that any mangager is a gamble, but­ you minimise the risks to increase your chances of­ success. i feel there are just too many risks with a­ manager who is young enough to still be playing and has­ no experience of top flight football. I don't mean­ to be disrespectful, but he would maybe be a good­ signing for wigan or for any other club not expected to­ win any trophies, let alone hope to qualify for the­ champions league. if the republic can get trappatoni­ why can't we get someone of a similar stature? ­
looking at the big picture, we are out of debt, we­ have a club with good financial foundation, but what is­ the point in having money in the bank if you have a­ useless manager and rotten team on the park? celtic­ have the resources to get a manger with a decent­ reputation and since his name was mentioned, i have­ advocated for slaven bilic. he may cost more, but so­ what? if he can get us into the champs league and get­ some good central/eastern european players surely that­ would be an investment?

sorry guys, i need to go for a­ while. SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED is demanding my time. ­ back later.

18 - Frankie, to a point I agree wholeheartedly with­ you, but the names you mentioned had a negative effect­ on celtic. Had you balanced it with mentioning­ STRACHAN, O'NEILL, and TOMMY BURNS, I think you may­ have seen the point I was making. Remember.. TB (along­ with Billy Stark) done well at Killie, but Killie are­ hardly EPL material, are they? Had the board backed­ Burns with hard cash, rangers would not have enjoyed­ their success so much. On your point about HITTING THE­ GROUND RUNNING - I agree 100% with you, but Strachan­ hardly set the heather alight against ARTMEDIA­ BRATISLAVA, since half the squad left around the same­ time as O'Neill, but after 4 seasons in charge­ Strachan got us the SPL championship 3 times, and got­ us to the last 16 of the ECL twice. Martinez is a­ gamble, sure.. But who out there is a "dead­ cert"??

But who can be SURE?

Talk is a bit cheap now. The best­ managers (or players) simply aint interested in the­ game we love.

Who woulda said the hibs manager could­ take Celtic to win the big one?

Or Le goon would be so­ pants?

Or the St Mirren manager could take The dons on­ to beat Real in the cup winners cup final?

Or A world­ cup winner could make Chelski so pash?

No certanties­ in the real world outside champ manager. ;-)

i still say he's too young at 35. ginger i agree­ that whoever it is should have every celtic fans­ backing, something strachan never got, but its got to­ be the right man someone who can cope with pressure. ­ all due respect to swansea, but there is a magnitude of­ difference between going from league one to 8th in the­ championship and champs league qualifiers within 7 or 8­ weeks of taking the job as well as at least 4 old firm­ games a season. our new manager will have to hit the­ ground running and i just don't think this guy will­ cut it. i disagree strongly when you say we should give­ him a chance. this is celtic we are talking about and­ we need to be SURE of who we appoint. remember barnes,­ dalglish and macari? look at the games coming up, we­ cant afford to take chances.

i would certainly give martinez a chance.has got to be­ a better bet than tubby at motherwell.I think that no­ matter who the new manager is we need to get 100%­ behind him until he proves what he can do.

i agree with pt6, martinez will lead a big club to­ success at some point in his future career so why not­ join celtic now, get some heartbreaking experience­ under his belt then try to move on to the afore­ mentioned big club in the future.

According to Sky Sports there's more chance of him­ going to Wigan, although they might be put off with 2­ Million tag. Like some have said, give the guy a­ chance...I think it stands to reason we can't­ compete for the Benitez', Wenger's and­ Ancelottii's of the world because of the vast gulf­ in what English teams get in sponsorship and TV deals­ and we get in Scotland, so we have to look at the­ Coyle's, Coppell's and Martinez' of the­ First Division. They might not have proven at a­ European level but they have never been put there - No­ one can judge until they do. They seem to have great­ motivation - Burnley have pushed a lot of bigger teams­ this season and come out on top. The First division in­ England is probably tougher and more competetive than­ the Premiership.
Martinez puts me in mind of wee Zola­ a bit...West Ham took a chance with him as he was­ untried and on a shoestring he has worked wonders.­ I'd rather Martinez than Mark McGhee, Craig Levein­ or most of the other rumoured targets anyday.

1-Aye Ginger,the guy deserves a chance,if it is­ Martinez as previous managers brought in have surprised­ us.
Change is good and we'll have a head start next­ season without Vinegar t its on the books.
The­ speculation crud does my head in,i recon we'll have­ someone appointed by next weekend to continue and­ forward our success,obviously i mean in europe no­ scottish league,that's a given.

I would welcome any decent manager who could get a­ decent amount of money to spend off the tight wad­ directors. we definitely need new strikers.

as good as Martinez is at his level smith will rip him­ apart and in europe he will be a boy doing a mans jobs­

he is not the man for the job

Martinez has gone to Wigan Ath you heard it from The­ Reaper.....Gordon Brown will be available soon dont­ worry Hoops Next season will be a cake walk for the­ Gers

Hear Wigan are after Martinez must be true I read it in­ the SUN

8. and also slightly drunk I imagine.

1. Well said­ gingero.

If the board are looking for outsiders with a proven­ record i would throw Gus Hiddicks name into the frame­ ,his pedigree should suit the tight fisted zipped uped­ pockets of the higher powers that be he would get rid­ of the dross and bring in some quality cheap dont­ laugh you lot i am slightly serious.

i think martinez would be a great manager for celtic he­ ticks all the boxes

If martinez does go then good luck to him, he has­ transformed swansea and no doubt will make Celtic a­ better team. Celtic fans dont mock because you do not­ know what you are about to have, the guy is a­ footballing genius and will become a massive name in­ Europe. I expect him to manage a very big club at some­ stage in his career..

IM WITH YOU ON THIS ONE GINER WHO WANTS HES FAT HES­ ROUND HE COST A POUND MCGEE SOME OF THE FANS CANT GET­ PAST THIS CELTIC MINEDED @#$%

Point 3. Ally takes charge of the team selection for­ domestic cup games and he's won 3 out the 4­ he's competed in as Assistant Manager. (Runner-up­ in the 4th)

We just need to wait till auld Wattie retires at­ Greyskull and watch Ally Babba do a John Barnes!!!

Now that this rumour is beginning to grow arms and­ legs, let's at least give Martinez a chance? We­ took a chance with John barnes (failure), Liam Brady­ (failure), Martin O'Neill (success), and Gordon­ Strachan (success). What have we got to lose? If he­ doesn't "shape-up" the fans will ensure­ that the board "ship out" the dead wood, like­ they done with the Barnes/Dalglish partnership. Who­ would have guessed that Strachan would have delivered­ more success than Martin O'Neill? Maybe Martinez­ can better Strach's success? Who knows? But I, for­ one, am prepared to take that chance and give the guy­ my backing. Let's all get behind the new boss,­ whoever he may be!