Former Celtic coach Dr Jo Venglos has sadly passed away at the age of 84.
The Slovakian had a storied career which saw him spend a year as Celtic manager and a little more time at Celtic Park as a technical director.
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Jo was given more than a rough ride by the media in this country who vilified him from the get-go. Headlines of ‘Dr who?’ Greeted him on his arrival and it appears as if the media had found a foreigner they could pick on.
This was more evident when Dr Jo brought in Lubo Moravcik which was met with widespread derision by the media. We all know how that signing turned out.
Dr Jo never managed to win the league but there was a lot of respect for the man from the Celtic support and it was clearly something which was evident behind the scenes. Not many managers get kept on in a role once the writing is on the wall.
Venglos was quoted in 2012, talking about his Celtic fandom: “I have such a strong attachment to the club and it’s impossible not to feel passionate about Celtic when I watch the team. Most of the time, I watch European games as a coach. But when Celtic play, I am like any other fan.” Quote credited to the CelticWiki.
His finest moment as the Celtic manager would be the 5-1 thumping of Rangers at Celtic Park.
Trivia Courtesy of the Celtic wiki;
• Was the first foreign born & raised manager of a club in the English top tier league(now it’s the EPL): tAston Villa.
• Won the European Championships at under 23 level, and then his finest moment in coaching, the full European Championship with Czechoslovakia in 1976, beating Holland in the semi-finals and West Germany in the Final, as well as reaching the quarter-finals of the Italia 1990 World Cup.
• Appointed President of the European Coaches Union in 1995 as well as being chosen to coach European and World select teams in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
• Signed the great players Lubo & Mjallby for Celtic. Truthfully, he never made a bad signing.
