An update has emerged on Celtic and their plans to find a replacement for recently-departed manager Ange Postecoglou this summer…
What's the latest on Rik de Mil to Celtic?
According to Football Scotland, the Hoops have added Rik de Mil to their list of targets as they attempt to draw up a shortlist of coaches to take over at Parkhead.
The report claims that the club have been keeping tabs on the Club Brugge assistant manager and are joined by a number of European and Belgian teams in doing so.
It states that the 41-year-old is one of a number of candidates being considered by the Scottish giants with Brendan Rodgers, Enzo Maresca and Graham Potter named as other possible contenders for the job.
Would Rik de Mil be a success at Celtic?
Majority shareholder Dermot Desmond could uncover a dream replacement for Postecoglou by swooping for De Mil as could be a big success in Scotland.
The Club Brugge assistant, who Football Scotland claim is a "serious prospect with a top coaching career ahead of him", was given an opportunity to shine as the first-team manager for the first time earlier this year after Scott Parker was relieved of his duties and made an instant impact.
He won four of his six regular season games in the Pro League after the English head coach won two of his ten matches in the Belgian top-flight, but that was not enough to stop the club from appointing ex-Hoops boss Ronny Deila.
De Mil, who typically deploys a 4-2-3-1 formation, described his Brugge side as a "team putting forward pressure, trying to pin back its opponent high upfield."
He added: "There's still room for improvement when it comes to transition. Play it out a bit better at some moments, would have resulted in more goals. Those are some working points, absolutely, but I did see a dominant team in possession, finding space more easily."
These comments suggest that the Belgian tactician wants his team to dominate games and press high up the pitch to push the opposition's defence back and prevent them from building attacks of their own, which is akin to the way that Postecoglou set up his Celtic side with his high-pressing attacking style.
De Mil's limited experience as a senior manager means that it would be a gamble for Desmond to appoint him but the same could have been said about the club's last boss as the Australian had never managed in Europe but the 57-year-old ended up winning five trophies in two seasons at Parkhead.
Therefore, this could be a risk worth taking for Celtic as the talented Belgian has shown promise in his short managerial career to date and has a style of play that the supporters could connect with given the similarities to Postecoglou's philosophy of dominating with a high press.
