The Eddie Howe saga at Celtic feels like a long time ago.
In the spring of 2021, with Neil Lennon gone and John Kennedy in interim charge, the Hoops made Howe their priority target to lead the club’s rebuild.
Negotiations were widely reported over several months. Howe was supposedly in talks over his backroom staff, and waiting until the beginning of the following season to take over.
Celtic waited months for the green light, before Howe finally rejected the club’s offer in late May. The Hoops acknowledged their discussions with Howe in a statement – and appointed Ange Postecoglou after a late scramble.
Howe was criticised for rejecting Celtic by Simon Jordan, among others – but four years later, Jordan has completed a U-turn on his stance.
Simon Jordan on Eddie Howe’s Celtic rejection
Howe hit back at Jordan’s comments, saying they were ‘grotesquely unfair’.
Jordan had accused the ex-Bournemouth coach of ‘bottling’ the Parkhead role, labelling him a ‘coward.’
READ MORE: Celtic fan Barry Bannan reacts to ex-Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl’s move to Rangers
Howe has since taken on the Newcastle job as an unfancied candidate, and taken them from the relegation zone to winning the League Cup and qualifying for the Champions League twice.
Reflecting on his comments on TalkSPORT. Jordan admitted that he was wrong.
He said: “I want Newcastle to be successful. I want them to raise their ceiling of opportunities. I want them to punch their way into the top six, stay in there, create disruption and be a football club so we don’t have old faces in the same old spaces.
“I want that opportunity for them. And, of course, in the Champions League, any British or English team that plays against the continental sides, I want to see us win.
“And I like Eddie Howe. My view of Eddie Howe has completely changed because I’ve got new information, and the new information has made me change my mind.
“I questioned his appetite for the Celtic job at the time, I questioned the voracity of his Bournemouth side that, in my view, couldn’t defend when they stopped scoring goals and got relegated.
“But I was wrong. Because of what he’s achieved at Newcastle. I still maintain – despite the winning of the League Cup – that the holy grail that Newcastle’s ownership bought Newcastle for, winning the Premier League, will not be something that Eddie Howe delivers.”
What if Eddie Howe came to Celtic?
It’s staggering to think about how much would’ve been different if Howe said yes in 2021.
For him, there would’ve been no golden opportunity to work with the Saudi PIF at Newcastle – instead, he would’ve been working with the famously penny-pinching Celtic board.
For the Celts, there would have been no Postecoglou. For all we know, he may still have been waiting for his big European breakthrough today, rather than winning the Europa League at Tottenham.
Postecoglou went on to bring the title back to Celtic Park at the first attempt, winning the treble in his second season before calling an end to his spell after just two years.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
