Resurgent Bain says Celtic players are all hoping to impress new boss
SCOTTISH CUP CELTIC
Forrest 56, Christie 58, Elyounoussi 79
FALKIRK
3
The twists in Celtic’s season seem never ending.
If, as expected, Eddie Howe is appointed manager this week. then it is now the case he will have little more than a week to prepare for the first defining game of his tenure – the Scottish Cup quarter-final draw made yesterday that will see Celtic visit Ibrox in a fortnight has made sure of that.
The pursuit of Howe, inset, is already impacting on the squad he will inherit should he make the leap, according to Celtic keeper Scott Bain – the growing belief the 43-year-old isabouttopitchupcouldhardly bypass the players.
Bain, a bystander as Celtic overcame Falkirk 3-0 in the third round of the competition on Saturday, concurred that the ex-bournemouth manager was “an exciting name” to be linked with the post.
He also acknowledged the requirement to impress a new manager was on the minds of him and his team-mates – even as he stressed they have been “really enjoying working hard in training” under Celtic interim John Kennedy.
“I think so,” he said of making a good impression on Howe, assuming the Englishman does front up. “That is always the case at Celtic anyway. You need to perform every week at this club regardless of the situation. but you want to put in good performances for whoever might come in if someone has been watching in the background.
“I don’t think we’ve been distracted by the manager chat. There’s been a lot of talk and speculation for a while now. It seems to be ramping up these last couple of days but it’s nothing we can control.”
With only a Scottish Cup salvage operation open to Celtic from a miserable campaign, there could hardly be more riding on their forthcoming trip to the south side of the city. “There’s a huge incentive,” said Bain. “We’ve had huge disappointment in the other two competitions. This one is ours and we want to keep it. We don’t want to give it up easily so it gives us added motivation for the last five games of the season. We don’t want to drop our standards.”
Bain’s standards seem going the right way if Howe, pictured inset, is about to join the club.
The keeper’s growing assurance is reflected in the fact the weekend brought his seventh clean sheet in 12 games since he was handed firstchoice status in January. Asked if Howe’s appointment could encourage players expected to move on in the summer to stay, he focused on his own feelings.
“It’s an individual thing,” he said, “but whoever comes in might convince people who thought they wanted to play somewhere else to stay for another year or two. For me, I want to be here as long as possible.”