Celtic took a step closer to the new Premiership season on Saturday afternoon by putting four goals past Newcastle United in a pre-season friendly.
Brendan Rodgers is the man in the Celtic Park dugout, but once upon a time, it could have been Eddie Howe following his links to the Glasgow job.
The Englishman has since guided Newcastle to two Champions League finishes, including winning their first trophy in 70 years last season.
But in front of a packed-out Celtic crowd, his team were thrashed in Glasgow, with two goals in each half from the champions of Scotland.
Eddie Howe on Celtic test being ‘too early’ for Newcastle United
Even though Newcastle were on the end of a thrashing, Howe has seen the positives to it all and thinks his team is ‘better’ off because of it.
The 47-year-old stated that Celtic played ‘very well’, and he is ‘not making excuses’ when he wanted to point out that his side were ‘jaded’ following their trip from Austria.
Of course, Celtic had just returned from their trip to Portugal, which included a defeat to Estrela and a win over Sporting Lisbon.
“We take a load from that,” said Howe on Newcastle TV. “That was a really good test for us.
“I think the pre-season is designed to really stretch us. This was a test that maybe came a little bit too early for us. We have had a long week in Austria. Not making excuses, by the way, but the lads came into the game jaded, slightly, but it was a great workout for us.
“I think Celtic played very well. I thought we played well in phases of the game. I thought we created a lot of chances. We should have scored a couple of goals.
“Overall, I think the team would be better for the game.”
Howe on Brendan Rodgers’ side outpowering Newcastle
This was Celtic’s fifth game of pre-season and Newcastle’s second, and Howe added that ‘naturally’ it had an effect.
Howe also explained that ‘the power of our fitness’ usually shines through their performances, but this time, it was the Hoops giving them a taste of their own medicine.
“Yeah, it did naturally,” added Howe on Celtic being on their fifth pre-season match and Newcastle their second.
“I think they are way ahead of us fitness-wise. I think that’s a very useful lesson for us to learn because we usually do that to other teams. The power of our fitness usually shows through in our performance. Against Celtic, it was the other way around. You could tell we were on the receiving end a little bit.
“We were reactive rather than proactive, and that cost us. The goals that we conceded were naturally the poorest aspect of our performance.
“Other than that, I don’t think they had, other than four goals (chuckles), it wasn’t a game where we were consistently under pressure. We more than held our own. We just defended those moments early.”
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