The Legacy of Gordon Strachan

By: Matt | July 2nd, 2009

Three titles in four years, two League Cups, a Scottish Cup, two Last 16 appearances in the Champions League. In most places, heck, with most Celtic coaches, that run gets you a stand named after yourself. Of course, by now, we all know that this was not the case for Gordon David Strachan. The relationship between Strachan and Celtic was always a strained one from the beginning. “I remember this ginger guy from Aberdeen in the 70’s, why is he our coach?” seemed to be the question on Celtic supporters mindset early on. Taking over after one of the most beloved Celtic managers to not win Ole Big Ears did not help either. His first match against Artmedia Bratislava did not help ease fears from the support, as everyone remembers the embarrassing 5-0 defeat. A slow SPL start followed, by Strachan came into his own and Celtic had a double digit point lead to win back the title and then win the League Cup for the double. The league was won convincingly the next year as well, and Celtic’s first taste of the knockout rounds of the Champions League was enjoyed, yet Strachan was still not overly popular with the fans. The up and downs of the league the following year saw even more criticism on Strachan, even when the league was won. Finally, losing a seven point lead to Rangers to lose the league this year saw Celtic and Strachan part ways and end an, at best, uneasy relationship. He was the constantly faced with criticism, and to say he wasn’t a fan favorite would be putting it nicely. Yet, he had great success with Celtic, despite not playing attractive football at times. So the question must be asked, what is Gordon Strachan’s legacy at Celtic going to be?

Will people remember Wee Gordon Strachan led Celtic to it’s first knockout stages in the Champions League and then repeated the feat the following year? Maybe. Will they remember a 75% success rate of winning the league? Perhaps. How about the three domestic cups he helped Celtic to? Not as much as the first two, but sure. More likely, Strachan will be remembered for the collapse in his last year, his dull tactics, and frugle spending. When given the choice between Saint Martin O’Neill or Strachan, I’d venture to say that 8 out of 10 Celtic fans would take St. Martin. Why? O’Neill had one more trophy than Strachan, had his own collapse that led to his resignation, and experienced some great European moments. You could (and it has been) debate about which is better, the UEFA CUP, now the Europa League, or the last 16 of the Champions Leauge, but they’re similar achievements. While it was time for Gordon Strachan and Celtic to part company, Strachan’s tactics had been cracked in the SPL and he didn’t seem to have anything else, it seems unfair that Strachan will be remembered as being a clueless dolt who was a penny pincher. I hardly believe that Strachan got a call from old Derm saying “Well, we rate this Kaka kid, I have my check book open, should I do it Gordon?” with Gigner Baws replying “Nah, I think this Chris Killen kid will get the job done.” While I am not making him out to be Jock Stein, who in a related story magazine FourFourTwo rated as the 3rd best “British” manager of all time, but I think that Strachan should be thought of in the same plane as Martin O’Neill.

Of course, I hope that Tony Mowbray makes us forget all three.