This is a space odyssey, a Celtic one. It is about the future of the club happy to bill itself "the fifth biggest supported" in the world. This looks like being a very big week in the 112-year life of Celtic. At least it does this morning, whether it will be seen that way in a month, a year or five years is not so certain. Fact being dressed up as fiction and vice versa, it is not always easy to understand the goings-on at Parkhead.
Goings-out might be more appropriate at the minute. It is an accepted matter-of-fact amongst Celtic-watchers that their director of football and current interim coach, a certain Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish, will pack his bags at some stage in the next five days, once the club have decided how to overcome the rollover contract, allegedly of u12,000 per Stg£12,000 per week, they chose to give him less than a year ago.
When, and it does seem a case of when, not if, that happens, one can imagine it being a fairly bitter parting. It is incorrect to say, as some have done, that Dalglish's appointment alongside John Barnes last summer was greeted with nodding approval by every punter in Glasgow's green and white quarter, but to the man himself it represented a warming homecoming, particularly after his hostile exit from Newcastle United.
Dalglish knows Celtic in a way he never knew Newcastle. What we do not know, though, are the limitations put in Dalglish's contract. Criticised for not being a more visible presence at the training ground, Dalglish is not a man to be forthcoming unless asked directly to be so. Especially if either in his or Barnes's contract it was expressly stated that Barnes did ALL the coaching. Such clauses are regular in football.
Ruud Gullit would have demanded one when he was negotiating to succeed Dalglish at Newcastle. Now it appears another Dutchman is about to cause Dalglish a similar ejection at Parkhead and there is no doubt that Guus Hiddink will also seek to be in sole control of the coaching at Celtic. And Hiddink will have it written down, be sure of that.
Hiddink, sacked last week as manager of Real Betis, 14 months after being sacked by Real Madrid, is believed to be unable to start a new job until July 1st because of a clause in his Betis contract forbidding him to do so, but looks likely to be unveiled at Celtic Park anyway.
You will notice the number of "seems", "looks" and "appears" in this column because while all the above is perfectly plausible, other voices dissent. One says that Leeds United were asked by Celtic for formal permission last Monday to speak to David O'Leary. Leeds gave a firm "No" and O'Leary's young side should take a large step towards the Champions League tonight when Everton visit Elland Road.
That should keep O'Leary satisfied. But it leaves Celtic in an awkward position again. On at least two counts. Hiddink (53), who succeeded Dick Advocaat as Holland coach in 1994, and who won the European Cup with PSV Eindhoven in 1988, is undoubtedly a high-calibre managerial appointment. He is, however, u1.5 expensive - £1.5 million per annum for four years is said to be the contract Celtic have offered. He will also demand a serious transfer budget. Celtic, remember, are a plc now. They do not run up the kind of debt Real Madrid do, nor, like Real Betis in the case of Denilson, are they prepared to spend u20 £20 million on one player.
But then maybe they should and the player is Roy Keane. Having already stated earlier this season that he would like to play for Celtic one day, Keane has been to Parkhead since his remark came out and it is inconceivable that those who run the club would not like him to come as quickly as possible.
Keane's current disaffection with Manchester United over their letter saying ticket price increases were to pay for Keane's salary may not be terminal, but it would be worth the question. They could make Keane Celtic manager, a situation Hiddink's four-year contract might scupper at a later date.
When The Irish Times asked Alex Ferguson if Keane would make a manager, this was his response: "He's matured, we all do. He's a good leader now. Yeah, I see a manager in him. He's got the brains, the intelligence. He understands the game well. He's got a natural hunger and he has a presence."
As said at the beginning, this is just a space odyssey. But who knows, the next great manager of Celtic might be Roy Keane, not Guus Hiddink, not David O'Leary and not Kenny Dalglish. We don't know. But do Celtic?
