Celtic’s hunt for a new manager has been a complete circus with nearly nine weeks passing now since Neil Lennon resigned.
Dermot Desmond has held talks with a few managers but the Bhoys are no closer to announcing the Northern Irishman’s successor.
What’s the word?
One of the main stalling points in a deal to bring Eddie Howe to Paradise has been his backroom staff requests.
One source suggested a few weeks ago that he wanted to bring the “kitchen sink” with him to Glasgow, something Celtic weren’t bowing down to.
He wants a number of his companions from Bournemouth to join him in Glasgow, specifically Richard Hughes, their technical director.
Celtic are trying to hire a director of football but had earmarked that position for Manchester City’s Fergal Harkin.
However, in a fresh update, it’s thought that Hughes isn’t key to their chase of Howe.
That’s according to journalist Alan Nixon who said: “Hughes is NOT central to this. Howe wants his own coaches though. And they’re still in work. That’s a major part of the hold up on his side.”
Good news
For a good few weeks now it looked as though the main hold up was in relation to Celtic’s director of football and a disagreement over Hughes.
This news, however, suggests that Howe has loosened his stance on the idea of his Cherries companion following him through the door.
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This could speed up Celtic’s chase for a new manager and it could finally allow them to appoint Harkin, their number one choice when it comes to leading their recruitment.
You can hardly blame Dermot Desmond for preferring the Man City figure either.
He’s become known as a transfer guru in Manchester and has played a key role in the development of a number of their young first-team players including regular Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Hughes, on the other hand, has a rather poor track record when it comes to spending money.
He may have helped to prepare a squad that got promoted from the Championship to the Premier League, but once they were up, their incomings left a lot to be desired.
Two of the worst examples are Jordon Ibe and Dominic Solanke. The Cherries splashed out £15m on the former, only to see him score five goals in 92 appearances. Hughes then spent £19m on Dominic Solanke, another player who hasn’t lived up to expectations with 19 goals in 88 outings.
Therefore, this feels like good news all round for the Bhoys.