Howe urged to make his own choices

JOHAN MJALLBY has warned Eddie Howe of the importance of assembling a backroom staff of his own choosing — after revealing that Neil Lennon was blocked from bringing him back to Celtic as assistant manager. Although it’s understood that Howe has agreed in principle to take the job, the former Bournemouth manager remains locked in talks with

the Parkhead hierarchy over some outstanding details. While Howe is believed to be happy to have John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan as part of the new set-up, the exact make-up of his regime remains to be seen. Determined to bring current Bournemouth technical director Richard Hughes on board, together with ex-Celt Mark Burchill in a scouting role, Howe’s vision would have no room for the likes of Fergal Harkin of Manchester City, who had previously been liked with a director of football post. Although aware of the benefits of a degree of continuity at Celtic, Mjallby feels it’s imperative the incoming boss has the final say on which individuals will be with him on the journey. ‘Personally, I’m a fan of you as the manager always bringing in your own staff, to a certain degree,’ said the Swede, who was Lennon’s No2 between 2010 and 2014. ‘Obviously, it depends on contracts and money-wise and all that. But it’s important for him and for the club that Celtic show their belief in him to let him bring in his own staff. ‘It’s said they are in talks with Richard Hughes as a technical director, so maybe he just needs to bring in one assistant, or some managers prefer their own physio or fitness person. But it’s important the club lets him do that.’ Mjallby revealed Lennon sought to bring him back to the club in 2019 but initial talks failed to go anywhere. ‘We had a brief chat about it when he got in the door,’ he explained. ‘He was interested to try and bring me on board but that fizzled out a wee bit, which was fine.’ Celtic yesterday announced that Dominic McKay will join the club ten weeks ahead of schedule after striking an agreement with his current employers, the Scottish Rugby Union. McKay, the SRU’s chief operating officer, was set to swap BT Murrayfield for Celtic Park on 1 July — the date Peter Lawwell retires as chief executive. But he will now move on April 19 to work in tandem with Lawwell before succeeding him in July. Meanwhile, striker Ivan Toney has admitted he came close to signing for Celtic last summer. The then Peterborough player topped Lennon’s list of targets but, despite opening talks, he moved instead to Brentford. Signed for an initial £5million, he has already scored 28 times in 36 matches. Toney told FourFourTwo: ‘I spoke to a few people there, and I spoke to the manager, but just couldn’t get a deal over the line.’