Ross Grant hearts is the headline change at Celtic: the set-piece coach has left Hearts to join Martin O'Neill's coaching staff ahead of the new campaign. Celtic want him focused on set piece analysis and coaching, and the move arrives after Gavin Strachan went to West Brom last week.
Martin O'Neill Adds Ross Grant
O'Neill said: “I am really pleased to welcome Ross to our backroom staff, I know he is a highly rated coach and look forward to working with him.” Grant will work in a role built around detail rather than volume, with Celtic naming set piece analysis and coaching as his main task.
That job description fits the evidence of what he has already done. Last season, Hearts topped the Premiership's scoring charts from set-pieces with 23 goals alongside Rangers, and Grant was a key part of that work. He also holds a UEFA A Licence, a credential that fits a coach being trusted with specialist preparation.
Hearts Lose a Key Figure
His exit leaves Hearts with a clear loss in a part of the game they used well. Celtic described him as a hugely important part of their coaching team last season, which makes the move more than a simple staff swap between two clubs.
Derek McInnes had already made his view clear after Grant swapped Dundee United for Gorgie last summer, calling him his “best signing so far”. Grant spent the last year with Hearts, previously worked with Dundee United for four years, and also worked under Austin MacPhee, a path that explains why both his experience and his reputation travelled quickly.
The practical shift is straightforward. Celtic gain a set-piece specialist with a recent record of producing goals from dead-ball situations, while Hearts lose a coach who was described as highly important to that phase of the game. Grant is expected to begin with Martin O'Neill's staff ahead of the new campaign, and that gives Celtic a new voice in a part of the pitch where margins are usually tight.
