Hearts’ Set-Piece Specialist Ross Grant Joins Celtic’s Rebuilt Backroom | OneFootball

Martin O’Neill has added Hearts’ highly-rated set-piece coach Ross Grant to Celtic’s backroom staff – a deliberate, targeted appointment that tells you exactly where O’Neill thinks this squad can be sharper.

Celtic FC have officially confirmed the appointment of Ross Grant as a specialist set-piece coach, with the club moving swiftly to recruit one of the more impressive backroom talents in the Scottish Premiership. Grant arrives from Hearts, where he served as their first-ever dedicated set-play coach, and the numbers he produced at Tynecastle made him precisely the kind of appointment that doesn’t go unnoticed for long.

At Hearts last season, Grant was part of a staff that helped the Jambos score 23 goals from set pieces – a figure that attracted widespread attention and underpinned their second-place finish in the Premiership. That return isn’t coincidental; it’s the product of structured, data-informed dead-ball coaching of the kind Celtic have lacked as a formal specialism. O’Neill has clearly decided that gap needs filling, and he’s gone and filled it with the man most responsible for the problem at our nearest rivals.

A Backroom Taking Shape

Grant’s appointment is the latest piece in a backroom reconstruction that has been methodical rather than rushed. As we reported when O’Neill was appointed manager, the job came with an understanding that he would rebuild the coaching infrastructure around him. Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham have already come in, and Grant now joins Stephen McManus in what is becoming a genuinely well-constructed staff – experienced, analytically literate, and with complementary areas of focus.

The context matters too. Gavin Strachan’s departure created space for real structural change rather than cosmetic reshuffling, and O’Neill has used that space well. This isn’t a backroom assembled by default – it looks like one assembled by design.

Grant holds a UEFA A Licence and spent four years in Dundee United’s academy before transitioning into first-team set-play work, which eventually brought him to Hearts as their inaugural specialist in the role. He is also, by all accounts, a lifelong Celtic supporter – which, let’s be honest, rarely hurts when it comes to understanding what this club demands and what it means to the people who follow it.

What to Watch For

The real verdict on this appointment will come in the early fixtures, when analysts and supporters alike will be tracking Celtic’s output from corners, free-kicks, and restarts with fresh attention. If Grant can bring even a fraction of Hearts’ set-piece productivity to Parkhead, the impact on tight domestic and European matches could be significant.

O’Neill’s staff is still bedding in, and further adjustments ahead of the new season remain possible. But right now, this backroom is starting to look the part. Mon The Hoops.