Celtic were rocked last week as manager Brendan Rodgers made a hasty and unexpected departure to Leicester City, but the Scottish Premiership champions have lined up Marco Rose to replace the former Liverpool boss.
The 42-year-old German is a highly-rated young coach – but what is his history and what could he bring to Celtic?
Who is Marco Rose?
Rose spent his playing career as a defender, initially starting out with his hometown club VfB Leipzig before moving to Hannover 96 and subsequently Mainz, who were a team yo-yo-ing between the Bundesliga and the second flight during his eight years at the club.
After quitting the professional game, he moved rapidly into coaching, serving as an assistant coach of Mainz’s reserve team, who he also played with at that time.
A brief stint at Lokomotiv Leipzig followed but in 2013 he made a move to Red Bull Salzburg, where he began as a youth coach but within four years had taken over the first-team duties.
The 2017-18 season was his first in charge of the Austrian outfit but proved to be highly successful as he guided his team to the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they were only edged out after extra-time by Marseille, while they won the league and finished runners-up in the cup.
Now midway through his second campaign, Red Bull continue to dominate the domestic scene, having established an 11-point advantage over second-placed LASK, with just one loss in 20 matches. Moreover, they have impressed in Europe, giving Celtic fans a demonstration of what they are capable of with two comfortable wins in the group stage of the Europa League.
Indeed, they are still going strong in that competition and will want to make an impression when they travel to Napoli on Thursday in what promises to be a tough tie.
What are Marco Rose’s tactics?
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Given that Jurgen Klopp was Mainz head coach for the vast majority of the time that Rose spent at the club, it is unsurprising that his style has been heavily influenced by the Liverpool boss, who is famous for his “rock and roll” football.
Rose typically employs a very attack-minded formation, generally using a variant of a 4-3-3 system, often deploying a No.10 behind two forward players.
Just as Rodgers wanted his side to play a high-tempo pressing game, he demands similar from his players, with a premium placed on winning the ball back as rapidly as possible.
One particular aspect of Red Bull’s success has been in identifying, signing and developing promising young players to sell them on at massive profits.
Celtic will be attracted to this attribute as it has underpinned their strategy for several years now. Among the players to leave for big money in the last 12 months include Amadou Haidara and Duje Caleta-Car.
What other clubs want Marco Rose?
Celtic’s main competition for the RB Salzburg boss comes from Bundesliga outfit Schalke, with reports from Germany suggesting that they see him as a successor to Domenico Tedesco.
Schalke are currently just four points clear of the drop zone in the Bundesliga but are also eyeing up former Rapid Vienna boss Mike Buskens.
Who are the favourites for the Celtic job?
Interim manager Neil Lennon remains the frontrunner to take the Celtic post on a full-time basis, but Steve Clarke remains in the running after showing strong form with Kilmarnock.
Among the other names in the running to be in charge for the first game of the 2019-20 season are David Moyes, Henrik Larsson, David Wagner, Mark Hughes and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez, whose wife is from the area.
