The apparently imminent arrival of Eddie Howe as the new manager could convince some of the hitherto want-aways to change their minds and stay on at Celtic to work under the highly regarded former Bournemouth manager.
That is the view of the current Celtic first choice goalkeeper Scott Bain, who also explained that he has no ambitions himself of leaving Celtic for pastures new.
At the weekend both Callum McGregor and Odsonne Edouard were linked with moves to join up with their former gaffer Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City, while Kristoffer Ajer has been linked with various clubs around Europe and Ryan Christie has made no secret of his wish to play in the English Premier League while Olivier Ntcham remains over in Marseille on loan waiting for the footballing world to realise that he is the talented player he believes himself to be.
On the prospect of Eddie Howe being confirmed as Neil Lennon’s replacement Bain is clearly excited at the prospect.
“I think it’s an exciting name,” the Celtic goalkeeper admitted, as reported by Scottish Sun. “Could some players decide to stay? They might do, you never know.
“Every player has their own own agendas about what they want to achieve and where they want to play,” Bain explained. “It’s an individual thing. But whoever comes in might convince people to stay for another year or two.
“For me, I want to be here as long as possible and to do my best for Celtic any time I play.
“There will be a lot of managers out there who want to take this job. I’m sure there are people working behind the scenes making sure they pick the right candidate for the job.
“As players we can only concentrate on what we do on the pitch and we’ll do our best whoever comes in.”
Bain also reckons that the Celtic players will have to raise their game in the hope that they will impress Howe who will be watching everything that is going on very closely as the appointment looms. Asked if the players will subconsciously be trying to impress the new manager, the goalkeeper reckoned that this is indeed the case.
“I think so. That is always the case at Celtic anyway. You need to perform every week at this club regardless of the situation.
“But there is a little bit of added pressure. You want to put in good performances for whoever might come in if someone has been watching in the background.
“When you are at Celtic there is always pressure on the performances because there’s always someone biting at your heels trying to take your place. So it’s nothing new, but the situation does keep you on your toes,” Bain said, as reported by Glasgow Times.
He added: “I don’t think we’ve been distracted by it. There’s been a lot of talk and speculation for a while now so it’s been going on in the background. It seems to be ramping up these last couple of days, but it’s nothing we can control.
“We can only control what happens on the pitch and we’ve been working hard in training with John Kennedy and the coaching staff. We’ve been really enjoying it and I think that’s been seen in the last few games.”
Meanwhile following speculation on Kerrydale Street yesterday the Daily Record last night ran an ‘exclusive’ saying that Dominic McKay had left his post at Scottish Rugby with immediate effect to instead begin his new role as the Celtic CEO three months early so that he can be heavily involved in the restructuring work at the club that will be taking place over the next few months.
If this is indeed the case expect a formal notification to the London Stock Exchange early on Tuesday morning.
This development, if confirmed, is NOT expected to result in an earlier than planned departure for Peter Lawwell, who retires from his role as Celtic CEO on 30 June 2021. Lawwell will instead work with McKay on the handover of responsibilities.
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