Former Celtic striker Mark Burchill is in line for a scouting role at the club under a new regime led by Eddie Howe, The Scottish Daily Mail has reported.
Journalist Stephen McGowan, like other reporters, believes Howe is now the prime frontrunner for the Celtic position.
Multiple outlets have reported discussions are at an advanced stage between the former Bournemouth boss and the hierarchy at Celtic.
With him could come other backroom appointments, including former Scotland international Richard Hughes in a technical director role and former Hoops prospect Burchill in a scouting position, reports McGowan.
Burchill burst onto the Celtic scene in 1998 as a fresh-faced teenager, memorably scoring one of his early goals in a 5-1 victory over Rangers.
In total, he scored 25 goals in 62 appearances for the Hoops. However, in competition with world-class striking talent at the time, Burchill was eventually moved on to Portsmouth in 2001.
Burchill has coaching experience and was briefly manager of Livingston in 2015. He is currently working as a scout for Howe’s former club Bournemouth, which is where this link starts to make sense.
It’s all rather intriguing to say the least. Perhaps getting this one over the line will involve Celtic making some concessions on Howe’s staff and vision for the football department at Lennoxtown.
That, clashing with Celtic’s ongoing rebuild of processes, may make final negotiations a little tricky.
Let’s hope it all comes together agreeably for all parties.
For me, Howe is an outstanding candidate and if he wants his own men in key positions, I’m happy to live with that.
In other news, Roy Keane to Celtic was never likely.
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