Shaun Maloney Takes Charge of Celtic's Attack
Shaun Maloney is stepping out of the shadows and into the penalty box.
Celtic’s assistant manager has confirmed he will now work directly with the club’s forwards on a regular basis, taking over the detailed one-to-one attacking work that used to belong to Gavin Strachan and Greg Wallace.
The shift comes after changes to Martin O’Neill’s backroom staff and marks a clear change in Maloney’s day-to-day role. The former Celtic playmaker, long regarded as one of the sharpest attacking minds of his generation at the club, had been focusing largely on duties away from the training pitch. That is about to change.
“I have picked up the individual work with the attacking players after games,” Maloney told The Herald. “Last season it was Gavin Strachan who did that. I can't take any credit for that! We also had Greg Wallace, who went to Saudi with Brendan Rodgers recently, and those two were really good with the individual stuff. I was doing things away from the pitch more, so I will pick more of that up this season.
“Stephen McManus and Mark Fotheringham do their stuff with different positions, but it was Gav and Greg who did the attacking work.”
Now that responsibility falls to Maloney, and the timing is significant. Competition in Celtic’s forward line is tightening, and every training session carries a little more edge.
- Yang Hyun-jun
- Jota
- James Forrest
- Sebastian Tounekti
- Summer signing Camilo Duran
Haissem Hassan is also set to enter the mix, giving O’Neill another option out wide and raising the standard required to nail down a starting spot.
The message from the manager is clear: wingers at Celtic will not be hiding.
O’Neill wants his wide players to be front-foot, risk-taking and relentless when they find themselves isolated against a defender. That demand for aggression in one-v-one situations underpins the work Maloney will now drive on the training ground and in post-match analysis.
Explaining the manager’s stance, Maloney said: “Martin is really aggressive in that he wants wingers to take on their opponent when we create a one-v-one.
“He gives the wingers the confidence that they can do that and that they shouldn't worry about losing it.”
It is a simple brief, but a bold one. In a Celtic side packed with wide talent and now guided more closely by a former fans’ favourite who made his name in the final third, the battle for those attacking berths is about to get even fiercer.
