Oh Bhoy: Celtic Sack Manager Tony Mowbray After Just Nine Months

It was a match made in heaven.

Fifteen years on from playing with the club, Tony Mowbray was holding a Celtic scarf above his head as the newly appointed manager of Glasgow Celtic.

Mowbray had recently just suffered relegation from the Premier League as manager of West Brom, but he was highly applauded for his style of play during his brief period in the Premier League.

Celtic set their sights on him and were adamant that he would become Gordon Strachan's successor.

The Scottish outfit forked out an estimated £3 million to take him to Parkhead— and nine months on, Mowbray has been shown the door.

On leaving the club, Mowbray said he was "naturally very disappointed" about losing his job. He also said he was "proud" to have managed and played for the club, and he offered his "sincere thanks" to all the players and staff who supported him.

Where does this leave Celtic now?

They are back to where they started nine months ago—looking for a suitable candidate for the manager's role to move the club forward.

The only difference this time around is that they are out of pocket and even further away from challenging the rival Glasgow Rangers for the Scottish Premier League.

Former player Neil Lennon has been handed the reins of the club for the foreseeable future, and he is the front runner to get the job permanently.

Looking back on the Mowbray hiring, Celtic's judgement must be questioned.

Mowbray has never managed a club when he was able to win more than 50 percent of his games. The best Mowbray was able to do was when he was the manager of Hibs, and his team won 48 percent of its 108 games.

Ironically for Mowbray, Celtic are the first team he has managed to win more than 50 percent (51.11) of their games.

Despite Mowbray's previous employment with a Premier League team, he was very young and inexperienced as far as management is concerned.

Mowbray had a very brief stint in 2002 as the Ipswich Town caretaker manager—and excluding four games, Mowbray only started managing in 2004. Five years later, he was handed the task of leading one of the most prestigious clubs in Britain.

On top of that, Mowbray was taking over from Strachan, who had won six trophies in his four years at Celtic—three of which where back-to-back league titles.

Celtic will now have to look forward and to rebuild. This is a task not only hindered by the lack of finances at the club, but also the fact that Scotland have lost their second Champions League qualification spot this season and will come into effect in 2011/12. 

Not only is that a burden on finances, but it is also a major factor when summer comes around and Celtic's new manager is trying to lure players to Parkhead.

Celtic face an uphill struggle on a bike with no saddle—and it's very hard to make any silver lining out of their enormous cloud.