Howe can ‘rival’ Ibrox boss Gerrard next season

CELTIC target Eddie Howe was last night backed as the man to wrest the Scottish title back from Steven Gerrard’s Rangers. The Parkhead club are closing in on an agreement with the 43-year-old after talks with powerbroker Dermot Desmond and incoming chief executive Dominic McKay. As Sportsmail revealed last week, former Bournemouth boss Howe wants Cherries technical director and ex-Scotland international Richard Hughes to join him in Glasgow. Former Celtic striker Mark Burchill is also in line for a scouting post after head of football operations Nick Hammond recently departed his Parkhead post. Ex-Bournemouth captain Simon Francis, who rose with the club from League One to the Premier League under Howe, has always known his boss was destined for

a top job. He believes Howe’s imminent appointment will be hugely exciting for the recently dethroned Scottish champions. ‘When we were doing so well in the Premier League, Eddie Howe would always get linked with top Premier League clubs or the England job,’ said Francis. ‘We were all saying in the changing room he was destined to be a top manager. ‘For me, he’s the best coach I’ve worked with and the best man-manager as well. ‘For him to go into a club like Celtic would be a huge coup for the football club. ‘I don’t think they realise how good he could be up there. The fans are already excited about it. ‘It seems like he’s their No 1 target. It’s just the vast improvement I think he can make on a squad of players with a lot of talent in there already. ‘Given time and a pre-season under his belt, and getting to know the players in the off-season and seeing where he needs to strengthen, then I think certainly he will be able to rival Steven Gerrard next season.’ Francis made 324 appearances for Bournemouth from 2012 to 2020 before leaving at the same time as Howe last season following relegation from the Premier League. He believes the Celtic job represents a massive opportunity for his former boss to manage a huge club. ‘I’m very excited for his next step in football management,’ Francis told BBC 5Live. ‘There was always going to be a time when he walked away from Bournemouth. ‘I would have loved it if the club had stayed in the Premier League, then it (Howe’s departure) would have been on his terms. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. ‘It (Glasgow) could not be any more out of his comfort zone because I know he loves the (Bournemouth) area so much. ‘He might have liked his next job to be closer to home but, Celtic to Bournemouth, you can’t get much further away. ‘It’s one where you go in 100 per cent, you go all-in. He’d have to move his family up there. ‘But it’s a huge chance for him to go to a massive football club. ‘Absolutely no disrespect to Bournemouth, but they are a small team with a small stadium with 11,000 to 12,000 fans there. ‘This is a chance for him to manage a big football club with 60,000 fans at home games singing his name — and him getting the team playing the way he wants to play is a huge opportunity for him.’