It’s time for Kennedy to come out of his comfort zone and prove his real worth

ANGE POSTECOGLOU has labelled him ‘outstanding’. Brendan Rodgers described him as a ‘brilliant’ gauge of the temperature of Celtic. There is no question, then, that John Kennedy is — and always has been — well thought of within the ranks at Parkhead.

If he really is as good as all that, though, he surely owes it to himself to cut the umbilical cord and move on from the club that has shaped his life so significantly. Otherwise, all the plaudits will just start to ring a little hollow, to sound more like platitudes than praise.

Over and above that, Kennedy, himself, will start looking less like a promising, progressive talent and more like a guy who doesn’t really believe in his own worth, just thanking his lucky stars no one made him leave the safe space of what appears to be a job for life at a club to which he is in danger of looking inextricably tied.

Grandson of Celtic Hall of Famer Jimmy Delaney, raised in the youth system and retained in a number of roles since his playing career was cut short by five painful years of knee trouble in 2009, the 38-year-old is as much a part of the furniture at Parkhead as the Brother Walfrid statue.

In truth, he should have stepped away from the place back in the summer of last year, following that catastrophic campaign in which Ten-In-A-Row went for a Burton and the likes of Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell found themselves incapable of surviving the firestorm either.

Incoming manager Postecoglou, though, was content to keep him on as his No 2. It seemed a foolhardy move — perhaps even a sign of weakness — by the Australian to eschew the opportunity to bring in his own backroom team on his arrival in an unfamiliar environment.

Yet, one most unlikely league title later, the landscape is considerably different.

Kennedy is no longer tarnished by the disaster that befell Celtic in that tragi-comic 2020-21 campaign of Covid blunders, beers by the pool in Dubai and major shareholder Dermot Desmond insisting Lennon’s collapsing team was better than the Martin O’Neill side that reached the UEFA Cup final.

He is part of a successful outfit again. He has no shortage of weighty references on the CV.

And with interest from Danish side FC Midtjylland appearing strong and genuine, this must be the time to force the issue and finally strike out on his own after speaking to Hibs in November 2019 and deciding to stay put.

Midtjylland give the impression of being an interesting, forwardfacing club with ready access to European competition that just need to rediscover their mojo. They have endured a slow start to the current campaign, but so have all the better-known clubs in the Danish top-flight.

From Kennedy’s perspective, they would offer a platform from which to take his first steps as a manager in his own right in a favourable environment, with a club built to compete in their domestic setting and suitably far from the more intense examination that would come from working in the SPFL.

Sure, the one-time Scotland cap (below) has always given the impression of being happy learning new roles behind the scenes from scout to youth-team coach to firstteam contributor. At one point in time, he was even being touted for the role of sporting director.

There is nothing wrong with that, per se. Many talented coaches have preferred to stay in the background, felt happier there, believed it suited their skillset better than being out there, centre-stage, as the public face of an institution with all the good and bad that brings.

Yet, the rumours that Kennedy would be interested in a move to Denmark are not coming from nowhere. He has always appeared comfortable in the spotlight. He even stated after taking the helm temporarily at Celtic in the wake of Lennon’s departure that he saw himself having the potential to be a boss. ‘I think I can be a manager,’ he said. ‘In my time as a coach, I have had time to work on that and I have never been in a rush. The environment has been good and the people have been good and I have always continued to develop. ‘When that stops, it is time for the next challenge.’

With such ambition, such a desire to learn more about the game, what challenges can be left for him at Celtic? He has been through hell and high water there. He was one of the men who blew ‘The Ten’ and, yet, contributed to the salvation of both the club and his own reputation. He’s not going to be the next head coach, though.

Postecoglou, to his credit, doesn’t take the lazy option when asked questions. Most managers would have responded to reports about their assistant attracting interest by insisting he wants him to stay.

Big Ange didn’t. He conceded that individual career progression comes into the mix. That Kennedy will have his own decision to make and the club won’t stand in his way.

That’s why you believe he means what he says when he details his admiration for Kennedy. For the way he has developed since moving onto the first-team staff under former manager Ronny Deila eight years ago.

It’s just that we’re at the point where we need — and, more tellingly, he needs — to discover whether Postecoglou and all the others who have spent years blowing smoke his way are right.