Former Celtic manager Billy McNeill has slammed the club for not doing more to prevent Wim Jansen quitting less than 48 hours after guiding them to the Scottish Premier League title.
Celtic yesterday announced Jansen had resigned despite leading the club to their first championship in 10 years as well as the League Cup.
No reason has been given for Jansen's departure but it is widely believed that a breakdown of communication between the Dutchman and general manager Jock Brown, plus McCann's reluctance to match Rangers' purchasing power in the transfer market, led to his decision.
However, McNeill - who played for Celtic when they won nine League titles in a row under Jock Stein in the 1960s and '70s - said: "I thought that bringing in a general manager would take a lot of pressure from the first team coach.
"But I think there has obviously been great interference and I think that's the principle that has occasioned Wim Jansen to say, `I've had enough.'
"I honestly think that more should have been done to sort the situation out some time ago.
"I think when it comes to buying players, that may well be the responsibility of the general manager but I think the biggest influence on who's coming to the club has to be the first team coach because it's the players that he thinks will fit into the system he wants to use who are important.
"I would have preferred Wim to have been staying and telling the world what he's going to do next."
There had been weeks of speculation over Jansen's future after he publicly revealed he had a get-out clause in his contract allowing him to leave after just one year of his three-year deal.
Yesterday he ended the mystery by walking out and McNeill told BBC Radio Five Live: "I'm disappointed but it seemed to be inevitable because it's been one of the worst-kept secrets for a long time."
Jansen's decision came as little surprise to former World Cup team-mates Theo de Jong, who played alongside Jansen in the 1974 tournament.
"If Wim feels things are not going his way and he is not getting the support he wants from the top people, he leaves," he said. "This must come as a tremendous blow to the Celtic supporters so soon after the club clinched the title but Wim is a very stubborn man who knows what he wants."
