Eddie Howe to Celtic won't make up for disastrous lack of fan engagement

By David Walton

May 6, 2021

Eddie Howe to Celtic looks like it will be completed at some point, but the Parkhead boardroom shouldn’t start putting their feet up just yet.

Indeed, Howe appears to be closing in on the job. Daily Record journalist Keith Jackson today stated that it’s a case of when and not if regarding the ex-Bournemouth man. In addition to that, the Scottish Daily Mail reported last week [print edition, 28/04, page 83] that the Englishman was piecing together his backroom staff.

So whenever it is appointed, and goodness knows when that will be, we can start moving forward. And undoubtedly the Celtic board will give themselves a big pat on the back for finally doing something with a degree of competancy.

I say degree because this is starting to take far too long. We’ve needed a new manager appointed since Neil Lennon was sacked. Yet once again, Celtic have been seen to be twiddling their thumbs for too long and have left us waiting for the end of the season.

And when Howe is appointed, this lack of engagement with supporters won’t be fully forgiven. Far from it infact. There will still be plenty of work to do before supporters forget just how much they’ve been ignored this season.

Any notion that a Howe appointment will wash away the sins of this season is premature. The way the board has behaved this season has left scars that no single appointment could cover.

We have to remember just how serious the board’s crimes have been this season. None more so than their lack of clarity or engagement with supporters. In fact, for long spells this season, it felt as though Celtic were actively trying to annoy you or take the biscuit. Their constant ignoring of serious complaints regarding Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell clearly fell on deaf ears. As did protests outside of Celtic Park.

Eddie Howe appointment should be just the start

It was to be the board’s way or no way this season. Something that was a slap in the face to all season-ticket holders in particular who invested plenty into the club without a guarantee of being able to go to one single game.

The worst thing we can do now as Celtic fans is allow the board to swiftly move on and forget their actions this season. Howe’s appointment is a start, but that’s all. Next, he has to be backed and considerably so.

No more going into Champions League qualifiers with a makeshift defence. No more leaving key positions to rot such as the right-wing. And no more selling our top players in the final hours of the transfer window whilst failing to bag an adequate replacement.

Game’s a bogey; Dermot Desmond / (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

These are all aspects that the board must deal with this summer. If they can show an actual desire to move the football club forward, it will help ease the pain of their actions this year. But their almost refusal to update Celtic supporters or even interact with them still feels like its there even in our managerial hunt.

Celtic haven’t produced any form of update on where we’re at regarding a new boss. Instead, fans have had to go off of newspaper and media reports. Nothing official. No timeline and nothing even about the structure of the club moving forward.

Hopefully, this is all resolved soon. But if Celtic believe they can just move on from their disgraceful behaviour this season by appointing Eddie Howe? They’re being incredibly naive.

In other news, we take a look at the Chelsea success story that should leave Celtic with a major regret.