The last few months has felt like a complete mess for Celtic and everybody associated with the Bhoys.
How and when they will replace Neil Lennon is currently the million-dollar question at Parkhead.
What’s the word?
Another question for which Hoops supporters have been seeking an answer is who will replace Nick Hammond in the boardroon. Celtic are currently in the midst of restructuring their board structures and they are hoping to open up a landmark director of football position.
A deal to give Fergal Harkin that role was reportedly 90% done a few weeks ago until Eddie Howe intervened. The 43-year-old entered advanced talks over the manager’s position but wanted to bring Richard Hughes with him instead to fill the vacancy.
However, in a surprising twist to the tale, Football Insider revealed this week that Celtic are set to defy Howe’s wishes and appoint Harkin anyway. The report stated that Celtic are dead set on the Irishman and that the hierarchy are “committed” to appointing him as soon as possible.
Exciting news
Hughes may well be a trusted figure to Howe but the fact of the matter is that Harkin looks like a better appointment for what Celtic require right now.
He has been working at Manchester City and has become known as a ‘transfer guru’ during his time in the northwest of England. Harkin has worked closely with a number of players away from the club on loan and has had a big say in the careers of players like Patrick Roberts and Olivier Ntcham.
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On top of that, Harkin was also a big help to Manchester City first teamer Oleksandr Zinchenko. With that in mind, he could be game-changing at bringing through some of the stars of tomorrow at Celtic, a facet of the club which has been rather neglected in recent years.
Cameron Harper has left because of a lack of first team opportunities, while Karamoko Dembele is out of contract in a few months' time.
Hughes, on the other hand, doesn’t have the most amazing of CVs from his time with Bournemouth. He did help Howe build a team which got them promoted from the Championship to the Premier League but, once they were in the top flight, they often spent poorly.
The Cherries splashed out £15m on Jordon Ibe, a player who eventually left on a free transfer after scoring only five goals in 92 appearances. Hughes also spent £19m on Dominic Solanke from Liverpool, who like Ibe hasn’t really lived up to expectations at the Vitality Stadium, bagging 18 goals in 85 outings.
Hughes definitely feels like the right choice here, and Dermot Desmond and co are right to defy Howe’s wishes.