Chris Sutton thinks Eddie Howe may be having second thoughts over taking the Celtic job because we lost to Rangers yesterday.
There’s still been no confirmation regarding what’s happening with Howe after intense media speculation a couple of weeks ago. But as of yet, he’s yet to have flat out turned down the job.
Celtic, meanwhile, have had to crack on under interim manager John Kennedy. Yesterday saw the Hoops succumb to a dismal 2-0 Glasgow Derby defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
And that’s led to Sutton outlining his ridiculous Howe fear as he wondered what the former Bournemouth man will now be thinking.
Speaking in his Daily Record column, Sutton said: “The season has now gone for Celtic and it’s all about what happens next. I just wonder what Eddie Howe would have been thinking if he was watching on.
“If I was him I’d be back on the phone to Dermot Desmond to ask for more time to think about it – or ask for some more money. Because it’s a huge job he – or whoever comes in – has on his hands.
“It’s a practically a blank sheet of paper. What’s on it? Callum McGregor, David Turnbull are on there, you maybe give youngster Stephen Welsh the benefit of the doubt even if he wasn’t at his best against Rangers. Ryan Christie’s future is uncertain, same with Leigh Griffiths, Albian Ajeti doesn’t look up to standard, and although Scott Bain couldn’t have done much yesterday, I still feel a top goalkeeper is needed.”
Chris Sutton going over-the-top; Eddie Howe won’t be back on the phone because Celtic lost to Rangers
Celtic haven’t just lost the league title on the final day. It’s not as if anything drastic has happened since the Howe speculation was in full force. All we’ve done is lost to Rangers.
Celtic also failed to beat Rangers in March at Celtic Park. It’s not as if Howe was said to have been demanding more money or having second thoughts after that one. We’re so far behind in the league that the job has been clear for some time.
Sutton tries to use the scale of the job combined with the Rangers defeat as to why Howe would be phoning up Desmond again. But the truth is that the job has always been the same for the last several months. We’ve always known that a major rebuilding job would be put in place. Losing to Rangers in a Scottish Cup tie doesn’t change that.
We don’t need to get hysterical because we’ve lost to our rivals. These things happen and it’s something we’ve gotten used to this season. But it’s not as if we plummeted to new depths this season. Howe will know the state of play up here and the struggles we’ve had against Rangers.
If he was even pondering as to whether he should take the job because we lost yesterday, then this gig isn’t for him. We didn’t learn anything new yesterday outside of the fact that once again we were punished for failing to take our chances.
So don’t expect any major Howe u-turns because of what happened at Ibrox.
In other news, we take a look at the two key lessons Kennedy failed to learn from the previous Glasgow Derby.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
