Timed out- Celtic’s new regime arrives too late for one critical decision

Keith Jackson believes that Scott Brown could have stayed around for the Celtic handover if decisions had been made earlier.

There appears to be a strong likelihood that Dom McKay and Eddie Howe could start work this week, filling in two glaring weaknesses in Celtic’s management structure.

Less than a fortnight ago Brown opted to accept a two year contract at Aberdeen, citing the uncertainty at Celtic as one of the factors in his decision to head to Pittodrie.

The size of the rebuild has prompted McKay to bring forward his move by almost three months with Howe needing every hour available to rebuild a squad for next season with replacing Brown one of many tasks that he faces.

In the Daily Record, Jackson explains:

Not a moment too soon either as this has felt like a club which has been placed on pause ever since 10 In A Row began to hit the buffers in October.

That’s precisely why McKay’s imminent unveiling will effectively signal the pressing of Celtic’s reset button. Given Sunday’s Scottish Cup draw it could be the new manager’s starting date is also rushed forward ahead of a trip to Ibrox in less than a fortnight’s time.

And yet whatever happens next, it will all be too late for Scott Brown who may also be wondering why it took so long for Howe to be spoken to given the long established availability of the ex-Bournemouth boss.

Brown may well have opted to hang around to help him out rather than commit to a new dual role as player and coach at Aberdeen if the situation had been addressed more swiftly and resolved with a greater sense of urgency.

And it’s likely too Howe would have valued Brown’s continued presence as he has a track record for appreciating the importance of keeping experienced campaigners on board.

Appointing a Director of Football would appear to complete the executive picture at the club with Richard Hughes of Bournemouth the likely candidate for that role.

The draw for the Scottish Cup will have helped focus the Celtic hierarchy on the task ahead, Brown will be on the park at Ibrox but going forward Howe or whoever becomes manager will have to do without the skipper that collected 22 major honours before heading to the north-east.