It feels like a lifetime ago since Eddie Howe was lined up for the Celtic job and the word was City group member Fergal Harkin was coming in as the Sporting director. The deal collapsed at the beginning of June last year. [RecordSport]
Last summer was a mess; Celtic were strung a long for quite a while by Eddie Howe and when push came to shove the Englishman backed out. Not that any fan is bothered by this after it paved the way for Ange Postecoglou to join the club.
Harkin at the time was constantly linked with the Celtic role and leaving the City group to take up a bigger job at the Hoops.
When Eddie bowed out, the whole thing fell apart and the club went in an entirely different direction.
Fergal is now set to get his chance as a Sporting Director with Standard Liege according to Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph.
The Irishman clearly wanting to make it out on his own at a higher position where the big decisions fall to him.
In the absence of a sporting director or chief scout this season, Ange has had a massive say in recruitment. The scouting team have helped immensely but we all know the players from Japan were all on Ange. Guys like Josip Juranovic and Liel Abada also pushed by the Celtic manager.
Mark Lawwell will step into the role for Celtic this summer in order to help Ange with recruitment. It will be interesting to see how the club goes about their business.
