Celtic can’t afford to be held to ransom by Howe
THERE is nothing odd about Eddie Howe being unwilling to jump in at the deep end with Celtic right now. He’d be off his trolley to get involved, in any shape or form, with this season or these players still hanging around at Parkhead.
Best to let the flames die, the embers of this collapsed empire burn out and start off when the last of the debris has been cleared off the premises.
Celtic, by all accounts, remain optimistic that negotiations with the 43-year-old and his people have gone well enough to ensure he will be in position as manager by the summer.
It would certainly be nice for them to have a little announcement about future developments up the sleeve to sugarcoat season-ticket promotions should the final insult of this all-round car crash of a campaign come next weekend with defeat to Rangers in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup.
However, even four days on, it is hard to shake the sense of disquiet that came from that peculiar statement from an unnamed ‘representative’ of Howe’s during the week.
You know, the one stating that talk of any deal with any club was ‘extremely premature’ and that their man wouldn’t be returning to the technical area until the summer ‘at the earliest’.
The whole business of people firing out statements they don’t want to put their names to should ring alarm bells in the first instance. It is a dreadful practice that has become commonplace in public life and quite needless. Unless there is a touch of mischief afoot, of course.
Look, perhaps there was simply a sense behind-the-scenes that it might be best to cool expectations and allow a little extra time to work on the nuts and bolts of any agreement in a less fevered atmosphere.
However, it is impossible not to let your inner cynic take hold here. For starters, there was no need for a statement, really, was there?
Not unless this is part of the Howe camp’s way of putting external pressure on Celtic to get what they want. Not unless they fancied some kind of fishing expedition to let other clubs — and mainly their fans — know that Howe might still be available for next season, after all. No matter what the sound of the jungle drums suggested.
One thing is for sure in this developing saga, though. Celtic cannot afford to let Howe hold a gun to their heads.
The club has to rebuild itself from top to bottom. The meek surrender of 10-In-A-Row has resulted in a rare opportunity to begin again.
It is an onerous task. And one they have to get absolutely right. They have to decide upon the structures they want and stick to them — no matter the individual personalities being considered for the positions within.
Howe is on record as stating he likes control of all things. He has difficulty delegating responsibility. As has been stated correctly by a number of credible observers in recent days, though, he cannot be allowed to name Celtic’s director of football — no matter how much he may like to.
The director of football has to be independent from the manager. He must set the club’s long-term goals during an era in which coaches are chopped and changed with increasing regularity. This isn’t any great revelation. It’s how the model is designed to work. If Howe doesn’t fancy that, so be it.
Word has it that Howe’s desire to bring Bournemouth’s technical director Richard Hughes to Glasgow has been a key part of talks. Hughes has been involved primarily in recruitment at the Cherries and could, arguably, work under a director of football with a wider remit.
It would then be a case of that director of football reflecting on whether Bournemouth’s many successes in buying players cheaply and turning them into topflight operators outweigh the disastrous spending that preceded their relegation, such as the £34million handed to Liverpool for Dominic Solanke and Jordan Ibe, the £25m blown on Jefferson Lerma or the £16m invested in Arnaut Danjuma.
Well over £100m went into that Bournemouth side that fell apart on its last season in the English Premier League, albeit with a hefty injury list. As track records go, it hardly offers Howe a strong bargaining chip if he really believes he should decide who deals with transfers at Parkhead from now on.
Out of everything, recruitment is the one thing Celtic have to nail down once and for all. The squad needs rebuilt from scratch. For years now, the club’s dealings in the market have been a mess.
It’s not that they haven’t spent money. They’ve spent plenty. You don’t magic up a £55m wage bill from thin air. The problem is that they’ve invested most of it in the wrong places.
Time has shown the refusal to go that extra mile to buy John McGinn from Hibs was a huge misjudgment.
Likewise, it must have been hard for Celtic fans to wonder about what might have been this week when Ivan Toney — scorer of 28 goals this term since joining Brentford from Peterborough for an initial £6m — talked about how close he was to joining the Hoops last summer.
They spent £5m on Albian Ajeti instead after protracted negotiations with him and West Ham. A lesson, perhaps, that good things do not necessarily always come to those who wait.
It is easy to see why Celtic are willing to be patient with Howe too. He is a strong and interesting candidate, but he also comes with no shortage of flaws and questions.
Both parties have plenty to offer each other, but Celtic should not bend over backwards to accommodate him. And they certainly should not be held to ransom.