JOHN COLLINS, the former Celtic assistant manager, believes John Hughes, whose position at Caley Thistle appears to be in a degree of doubt, ought to have been considered for the vacant managerial job at Parkhead thanks to his proven commitment to open, attacking football.
The tenure of Ronny Deila and Collins came to its conclusion on Sunday afternoon and a catalogue of names including Brendan Rodgers, Roy Keane, David Moyes, Malky Mackay and Neil Lennon have made their way into the frame as potential successors.
For Collins, though, there is a surprise at the omission of Hughes, who made it clear, shortly before losing Miles Storey to Aberdeen, that he is looking for his current employers to offer some signal of intent in the transfer market rather than continue losing their best players.
Read more: John Collins understands Alan Stubbs' sleepless nights
"Yogi has done an unbelievable job at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and it surprises me that he's not been mentioned for the Celtic job," stated Collins, who played beside Hughes at Parkhead in the mid-1990s. "He's not been mentioned by anybody.
"Let me put a few facts on the table about Yogi. He took over a team playing long ball football and very quickly moulded them into a team that plays exciting, expansive football that is pleasing on the eye.
"He took Inverness to the League Cup Final in his first year and lost on penalties by a strong Aberdeen team. In his second season, they beat us in the Scottish Cup semi-final and won the trophy.
"He's sold players after making them better such as Graeme Shinnie, Marley Watkins and Billy McKay. He discovered Ryan Christie. He was nowhere near the first-team training pitch, but he watched him in one Under-20s game, put him in the first-team and moulded him into a player.
"He developed him and Celtic fans are going to have the pleasure of him for years to come because he is a terrific talent.
"In my opinion, Inverness will never have a better manager in their history. Nobody would achieve anything like John Hughes has achieved in the past two-and-a-half years there.
"If John Hughes moves on from Inverness, it will be a huge loss for Inverness, but he won't be out of work for long.”
Collins is also clear on what he believes is a major contributory factor behind the lack of recognition the managerial achievements of the former Hibernian and Celtic defender have received.
“Is it snobbery? It is, 100 per cent.,” he said. “He did a huge job for us at Celtic this year, beating Aberdeen twice and drawing with them. He's had injuries all over the place, half his previous team sold. When you put it all together, you are talking about a manager who has done an unbelievable job with no support, no hotels, no sports science, no video analysis, not a penny spent on any player.
"He's got a tiny budget. He's a coach that plays expansive, entertaining football, which is tough to do - and he does it with average players.”
Meanwhile, Collins himself has insisted that the door is open to him reuniting with Deila again in the future.
"Would we work together again? Never say never," he remarked. "Ronny has asked me if I will go and work with him again. I think I will probably be a director of football or a manager.”
Read more: Ronny Deila failure provides latest proof that Scottish sport is 20 years behind times
Collins has, of course, been a boss in his own right. He won the League Cup for Hibernian in 2007 and can understand the difficulties Alan Stubbs faces in terms of team selection, particularly up front, as he endeavours to become the first manager to lift the Scottish Cup for the Easter Road side in 114 years against Rangers.
Collins left out the experienced Michael Stewart in favour of a young Lewis Stevenson for that 5-1 Hampden win over Kilmarnock nine years ago – “he has made quite a few bob out of talking about me in his columns” – and he suspects that a similarly difficult and unpopular decision lies in store for Stubbs.
“ It is what makes or breaks you,” he said. “[Jason] Cummings has been scoring goals all season and [James] Keatings has come in and scored two. What does he do? I think Cummings will be on the pitch, personally, but these are tough decisions.
“Anthony Stokes has got huge talent. In a big game, you would fancy Stokes to cause Rangers problems.
“These are decisions that keep managers up at night, tossing and turning, thinking and changing from one day to the next and one hour to the next.”
Rangers, who saw off Deila and Collins’ Celtic team on route to the final, appear to have downed tools of late, but Collins is reluctant to pick a winner.
“When I look at them player-for-player there’s not a lot in it," he said. "It’s two different systems in play. Rangers play wingers wide at the top of the pitch and Hibs play narrow with the width coming from their full-backs. Can Hibs stop Rangers in the wide areas, can Hibs get control of the centre of the park?
“There is a great carrot there for all the players and staff to create something very special.”
*John Collins was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup*
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