In the know journalist Stephen McGowan took to the airwaves on Wednesday evening to speaks to the Superscore board panel.
During the show, McGowan was quizzed about what he knew about Eddie Howe and Celtic and if it was still happening.
He gave a response which is going to to do little to quell the anxiety among those who are prone to stress but there does seem to be a calm about the whole situation.
“The two sides seem more relaxed about it than the fans are. He met Dermot Desmond two weeks ago in London, there was an expectation things might move quickly because he’s out of work but that hasn’t happened, but there might be reasons for that.
“He’ll want fairly precise details on how much money he has to spend, because of all these players potentially going out the door. How much does he have to sign 10 or 11 players?
“I think a non-negotiable point seems to be Bournemouth technical director Richard Hughes coming along as well. I don’t know he’s going to be director of football or technical director, I think he’s going to head up the player scouting operation, maybe a replacement for Nicky Hammond.
“Eddie Howe wouldn’t be appointing his own boss, he just wants someone he can trust by his side. I don’t know he’s keen on the idea of Celtic bringing in a director of football he doesn’t know in Fergal Harkin to work above his head.”
This keeps in line with what we’ve been told and also backs up reporter Alan Nixon’s comment about Celtic not looking at any other candidates at the moment.
Dermot Desmond will not want to be shown up in the hunt for a new manager, there has to be something in place or a verbal agreement the Irishman is comfortable with.
If Hughes is the missing link, it could be a case of negotiations his release from Bournemouth and tying up loose ends before Eddie puts pen to paper.
During the broadcast on SSB McGowan did also claim the Crystal Palace job wasn’t of much interest to Howe.
Celtic have a massive game coming up on Sunday. After that, there has to be more happening than what we’ve seen to date.
We’re days away from Dominic McKay coming in to start his role. Things must progress between now and the middle of May.
