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Chris Sutton has acknowledged the unusual nature of Eddie Howe’s reported demands, but insists the Celtic target is in a position of strength during negotiations.
It is believed that the former Bournemouth manager wants the Cherries’ technical director Richard Hughes to accompany him to Glasgow as director of football, but the likes of John Collins have suggested that such a demand is virtually unheard of.
It was widely expected that Howe would be confirmed as the new Celtic boss last week, but there is still no sign of announcement being made nearly two months after Neil Lennon resigned in the wake of his team’s second defeat to Ross County this season.
Former Celtic man Sutton is aware that Howe’s apparent request is an unusual one, but believes he’s entitled to want his own man in with him if he takes the job.
Speaking on the , Sutton said: “This all seems to be about Eddie Howe’s negotiations, that seems to be where we’re at.
“I think we would all agree that if we were all in Eddie Howe’s position, what he’s taking over, the player turnover, what he’s coming into, the intense pressure which will be on him from the first second, if it is Eddie Howe that sets foot in Parkhead, he wants everything to be right.
“There are question marks over who’s going to be the sporting director. Eddie Howe may want a say in that.
“I think that’s highly unusual if he does want a say in that, but as a manager going into a new job you’re never in a stronger position than when you first go into that job, so Eddie Howe will want to make sure everything is right.
“And he’s entitled to do that.
“Now from the club’s point of view there are two separate arguments here. I said myself there is a strong argument that Celtic should have been getting someone in who wasn’t in a job when they knew that Neil Lennon was going to leave.
“They should have made an earlier decision on Neil Lennon, but we have to look at it from Eddie Howe’s point of view and we would all be absolutely thinking the same. I’m positive about that.
“He wants everything right because Celtic are 20 points behind their biggest rivals this season.
“They’ve been humiliated in the league, and we know that second is last in Glasgow.
“This isn’t going to be a quick fix in my view, but Eddie Howe or whoever comes in will want to give themselves the best possible chance of fixing it and that’s why in my view negotiations are taking a long, long time.
“What would be the point of him coming in this week and Celtic end up losing to Rangers? He would be starting on a downer.”