Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has welcomed the appointment of Ross Grant as the club's new set-piece coach. Grant joins Celtic from Hearts, where he became the first dedicated set-piece coach in the Scottish top flight last summer.
O'Neill, who has acknowledged a learning curve in modern coaching methods since his return to Celtic, expressed pleasure in adding Grant to his backroom staff. "I know he is a highly-rated coach and look forward to working with him," O'Neill stated. Grant's role will involve focusing on set-piece analysis and coaching, an area where he was credited with playing a significant role in Hearts' strong performance last season, making them effective in both attacking and defending set plays.
The arrival of Grant signifies Celtic's effort to keep pace with evolving football strategies. O'Neill's backroom team remains largely intact, with Shaun Maloney, Mark Fotheringham, and Stephen McManus continuing their roles from last term. First-team coach Gavin Strachan departed last week for a new position at West Brom.
"I thought that was very important really, because we kind of gelled together really," O'Neill commented on retaining his assistants. "It’s nice to have the staff back."
Celtic has begun pre-season training, though players involved in the World Cup will return gradually. Several Celtic players, including Anthony Ralston, Kieran Tierney, Sebastian Tounekti, Yang Hyun-jun, Benjamin Nygren, Daizen Maeda, Auston Trusty, and Alistair Johnston, have been participating in the tournament. O'Neill emphasized the need for adequate rest for these players.
"Of course players who are out in the World Cup have had no break whatsoever," O'Neill said. "The Scottish players haven’t, they’ve gone straight from our final games just to joining up with the squad, so they’ve had no holiday."
Celtic is scheduled to begin their Premiership title defense at home against Dundee on August 3, followed by the first leg of their Champions League play-off later in August.