Gordon Strachan gave a strong endorsement of Eddie Howe during Premier Sports coverage of the Celtic v Falkirk Scottish Cup tie but warned that his old club won’t be putting all of their eggs in one basket.
That comment may be apt at Easter weekend but after a lifetime in the game Strachan knows what is involved to get any kind of transfer completed.
Way back in the mid-eighties Strachan fell foul of Alex Ferguson when he signed a pre-contract agreement to join Koln. That deal was cancelled when Manchester United appeared on the scene- two years later Ferguson joined him at Old Trafford as manager.
Celtic seem to have made significant steps towards recruiting Howe but until it is over the line nothing can be assumed. By early evening Newcastle United could be in an EPL relegation place with pressure growing on Mike Ashley to avoid a catastrophic drop in income after relatively heavy investment under Steve Bruce.
Adding intrigue to Strachan’s view is that he has two sons employed by Celtic- Gavin as first team coach and Craig in the scouting department.
Do I think he’s a good manager? Absolutely. The job he did at Bournemouth was fantastic, then he got them to the Premier League, stabilised them there. He had a bit of a problem last year but that can happen, every manager has a bad year – I can testify to that!
Knowing Eddie, he goes away and starts learning again.
I like what he did with his team over the last three or four years, the team understood how to move into different positions, play different systems, the emphasis being on being able to pass the ball and be intelligent with it.
But I’d like to think Celtic will not be putting all their eggs in the one basket. That would be very silly, I’m sure they’re speaking to other people out there because if conversations go on over two or three weeks it could change. Positions can change, everything could change.
There could be other clubs involved. So I like to think, and they are clever enough, that the board will be looking at other options, and there are other good options out there as well. One thing’s for sure: whoever they pick will get the opportunity to work at an incredibly good club.