Is the hunt to find Celtic a new manager finally coming to an end? It’s the news that everyone at Parkhead has been waiting for but it’s so far eluded the Bhoys.
Neil Lennon departed over nine weeks ago now but the club have struggled to complete a deal for his successor.
What’s the word?
A deal to finalise Eddie Howe’s move to Glasgow has been in the pipeline for the best part of a month now.
News emerged in early April that Howe was in advanced discussions with Celtic over a move to the club but things have stalled considerably in the last few weeks.
He doesn’t actually want to return to management until the summer while issues relating to his backroom staff have been lingering.
The 43-year-old wanted to bring Richard Hughes with him to Glasgow to make him the club’s new director of football but the Hoops want Fergal Harkin instead.
It looked as though hopes were beginning to fade in terms of Celtic’s pursuit of Howe a few days ago. That said, a major update from The Daily Mail on Wednesday says otherwise.
The print version of the newspaper claims that Howe is close to coming to an agreement with Celtic and he is now speaking to people he wants in his backroom team.
Desmond will be delighted
After the arduous two months that Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has had with Celtic’s manager hunt, this will come as fantastic news.
So many issues have plagued their chase of Howe, namely with the manager’s agent and his backroom staff.
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One source revealed last month that the former Cherries boss wanted to bring the ‘kitchen sink’ with him to Paradise but with a move now heading towards its final stages, one of the parties must have loosened the grip on their demands.
Earlier this week, it was claimed that Hughes was no longer a pivotal part of the deal so perhaps it was Howe who finally broke during negotiations, rather than Celtic.
Either way, getting a deal over the line as quickly as possible will be imperative.
Dominic McKay has already got to work on behind-the-scenes matters but without a first-team manager, they cannot carry out a number of important tasks.
Their campaign is done and dusted so they can begin to think about player recruitment and sales.
It’s a crucial point of transition for the Hoops, one they’ll have to absolutely nail if they want to compete alongside Rangers again.
Two of their best players in Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard look likely to leave the exit door while Scott Brown is departing for Aberdeen.
There is also the threat that fringe players Leigh Griffiths, Tom Rogic and Ismaila Soro exit too. That’s without considering the number of players due back at their parent clubs after loan spells.
The sooner Celtic can get Howe to put pen to paper, the quicker they can start correcting their incredibly patchy squad. They cannot take any decisions without a manager present.