THE RESURRECTION MAN
Howe could breathe new life into Celtic like Bournemouth miracle
THE most prominent of ten motivational slogans displayed on the wall of Eddie Howe’s office during his spell at the Vitality Stadium featured the words of John Wooden.
‘Make each day your masterpiece’ was the mantra of the late American basketball coach.
It’s fair to say they were adopted with some gusto by the former Bournemouth manager as he took the Cherries on a wild ride from the brink of liquidation to ninth place in the English Premier League.
That feat, on maximum home crowds of 11,329, was nothing short of a footballing resurrection — and one conducted by a 43-year-old who spent this Easter weekend mulling over the challenge of taking over at Celtic.
But the scale of the job restoring this particular masterpiece in the east end of Glasgow looks more akin to the task facing Michelangelo as he painted the Sistine Chapel.
A notorious workaholic who likes to be first in every morning, Howe will need every drop of his energy, plus plenty of financial backing, to return the club to the summit of Scottish football.
Two summers ago, Neil Lennon warned that Celtic faced the biggest rebuilding job since Martin O’Neill departed in 2005. The need is even more pressing now.
That’s due to the lack of success in their recruitment since the summer of 2019. Permanent signings included Greg Taylor, Jeremie Frimpong, Patryk Klimala, Ismaila Soro, Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti and David Turnbull.
There were also the loan captures of Mohamed Elyounoussi, Shane Duffy, Diego Laxalt and Jonjoe Kenny.
Of those, perhaps only Frimpong, sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £11.5million in January, and Turnbull, overlooked at the start of the season, could lay claim to being a complete success.
The quality of new signings, to be identified by Howe’s trusted Bournemouth ally — former Scotland international Richard Hughes — will be paramount if the new boss is to successfully swap a modest club who punched above their weight for one where metal barriers were hurled at underperforming players as the team’s failure to win a tenth successive Scottish title began to sink in.
Captain Scott Brown is leaving for Aberdeen, while Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and Kris Ajer are all entering the final year of their contracts and could follow the skipper out of the door.
That may leave Turnbull, James Forrest and vice-captain Callum McGregor — whose form has dipped dramatically — as the men Howe builds his team around.
In addition to his commitment to an expansive style of play, Howe has an ability to squeeze every last drop of ability out of a player.
His prowess for maximising talent dates back to August 2002 when playing for Portsmouth against Nottingham Forest. He felt his knee click and it was the beginning of the end for his own career on the field of play.
‘It is strange how setbacks in your life can spark reactions that you never thought could happen,’ Howe said in 2018.
‘For me to say I am a Premier League manager is something I would never have thought possible after that Nottingham Forest match.
‘But it also contributed to where I am. If adversity can make you, that was my moment.’
Getting the best out of players at his disposal is a skill shared by Howe’s mentor, Brendan Rodgers.
Livingston midfielder Marvin Bartley, who won promotion to League One with Bournemouth in 2010, believes his old manager could do a similar job to the one Rodgers did at Parkhead.
‘If Celtic can get him, I think it would be a fantastic appointment,’ Bartley told BBC Scotland. ‘I’ve worked under him before. He’s a fantastic manager, and I think he will add a lot to the Scottish game, and more so to Celtic.
‘He’s a winner. He took Bournemouth to the Premier League, so he knows how to win games. ‘He has a certain style of football that I think Celtic fans will enjoy, and he enjoys developing players.
‘He will also get them back playing the football they were playing under Brendan Rodgers.’
Howe’s journey to the English top flight would not have happened had Bournemouth not come from behind to beat Grimsby 2-1 at home in April 2009, securing their great escape after being deducted 17 points for financial issues.
The matchwinner that day, club legend Steve Fletcher, recalls a boss able to remain calm in the most pressurised of moments.
‘The manager, once again, was the calmest man in the building,’ Fletcher told the Minus 17 documentary. ‘He said: “The next goal is going to be huge. Go out and show me exactly what you’ve shown me for the last 18 games”.’
Howe has spoken since of what could have been the dire consequences of failure that day — Bournemouth could have gone out of existence — but also how the club’s success has fuelled his view on life ahead of his imminent move to Glasgow.
‘The one thing this journey has taught me is that you should never put limitations on what you can achieve,’ he said. ‘Only the sky is the limit.’