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News
New Director of Football could follow Eddie Howe to Celtic this week in major Dominic McKay reshuffle
According to the , Celtic hope to unveil Eddie Howe as their new manager by the end of the week, but Dominic McKay may continue his major restructuring of the Parkhead side.
Howe has long been the Hoops’ top target to replace Neil Lennon at the helm after two months of negotiations with Dermot Desmond and incoming Chief Executive McKay, but have been forced to hold off on rubber-stamping his arrival.
Howe is hopeful of bringing coaches Stephen Purches and Simon Weatherstone with him to Scotland but had to wait until Bournemouth’s season came to a conclusion, as they sought to secure promotion back to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs.
But as both Purches and Weatherstone are now free to discuss their futures after the Cherries were beaten by Brentford at the semi-final stage, McKay wants to have Howe wrapped up by the end of the week.
Howe is likely to be the headline appointment as a new head coach has been Celtic’s priority position to fill, although McKay intends to complete a major reshuffle of the Parkhead set-up with the arrival of a new Director of Football.
McKay is thought to be close to reaching an agreement with a potential candidate for the position and could announce their arrival in line with Howe’s at some point this week.
TBR’s view:
Celtic would be wise to have their new set-up in order at the same time as it would afford McKay, Howe and the incoming Director of Football the earliest opportunity to begin planning the club’s future together.
Any delay over the arrival of a new Director of Football could have consequences on Howe’s plans for summer targets, as they may not share the same vision on who would improve the Parkhead squad or who are realistic targets.
Appointing Howe is a strong start, though, as the former Bournemouth boss is lauded by those he worked with on the south coast of England, with Brett Pitman calling him ‘special’ in conversation with the , and adding:
“He has always had an awareness of what people are good at. It started in League Two but definitely developed later on as I went up the leagues with him. His hunger to improve players, however old you are, whether you are in the team, out of the team, is incredible. I would say that is one of his best traits.”