It has now been nearly three months since Neil Lennon headed for the departure lounge at Celtic and left the Bhoys behind.
It has been a testing time for everyone at Parkhead but it finally looks as though the club is on the home stretch in their quest for his successor.
What’s the word?
Celtic have been in advanced talks with Eddie Howe for the best part of a month now and it would appear that a landmark deal is finally moving closer to completion. The Daily Mail reported last week that a deal was now being finalised and that point of view has now been reiterated by Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson.
In his latest column, he hinted at a move now being closer than ever, with the hierarchy relatively stress-free.
He wrote: “That those closest to these confidential conversations appear to be entirely relaxed about what happens next, also suggests not only that some sort of action plan has been thrashed out and agreed but that it is already being put into practice well out of public view.
“The smart money remains heavily stacked on Eddie Howe’s eventual appointment as Lennon’s permanent replacement. The informed word is, it’s only a matter of when Desmond lands his top target as opposed to if.”
McKay will be buzzing
Celtic need a new manager and they need one quickly given their awful season. Therefore, to hear the news that an agreement is close should be music to the ears of the hierarchy.
That’s especially when you consider how Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell made a complete mess of finding Brendan Rodgers’ successor.
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Much of what has gone wrong in the last year or so can be traced back to the moment they hired Neil Lennon. Celtic received a compensation fee of nearly £10m for Rodgers when he exited for Leicester but what actually happened to those funds is anybody’s guess.
In typical Hoops fashion, they took the easy way out when the Northern Irishman left for the Premier League. They went back in time and, instead of looking towards the future, hired Lennon for a second stint at the helm.
Lawwell could have done the same here and given John Kennedy the reins on a permanent basis but, with a new figure in the Celtic hierarchy in the recently-appointed chief executive Dominic McKay, it appears to have done wonders for their thinking.
Advanced discussions were on the table for Howe before McKay had even walked through the door but his arrival appears to have sped things up.
Celtic’s vacant director of football position was suddenly no longer an issue for Howe and then he seemed to get his way in regards to his own coaching staff. Again, this was something which wasn’t strictly allowed when Lennon re-entered the football club back in 2019.
This may have been a disastrous campaign for the Bhoys but things are slightly beginning to change for the better. McKay will deserve some early plaudits when Howe does finally arrive.