The presumption that Eddie Howe is already “working at Celtic” is so widespread that I am moved to wonder whether those pushing it are dealing with information the rest of us don’t have.
But I know that they aren’t, because as I said the other day the one thing that comes across most at the moment is the total lack of knowledge possessed by the “in the knows.”
Nobody knows except a handful of people inside Celtic Park.
But I think we can safely infer that Eddie Howe is not busy behind the scenes talking to players and getting things prepared for his formal takeover.
The one thing I am sure about is that nothing like that is happening at all, because if it was what would be the point in not just announcing that he’s not only accepted the job but already doing it?
Our club is being pounded from every angle, day after day, for the length of time it is taking on this.
If Howe’s already in the role, albiet in the background, what the Hell is the point in taking this relentless beating at the hands of the press?
Why isn’t the club communicating the fact to its own fans? Is our club run by masochists, or are we just plain out of our minds?
Is there a valid reason – a logical reason – why Eddie Howe would already be acting on behalf of Celtic but we somehow don’t want the world to know that?
For God’s sake, think it through for a second; what would be the point of that?
What would the upside of it be?
A lot of folk are clinging to this idea in the hope that the rebuild isn’t as big as it looks, and the time hasn’t entirely slipped away from us. But the rebuild is definitely as big as it looks and a lot of time has already slipped away from us.
This is real, it is happening, and whether Howe comes in or not this week or next or at the end of the month the fact is, he’ll be starting in June and our first games are in July, and the Euros are wedged in between.
Eddie Howe hasn’t started work at Celtic Park yet, and if he does he’s starting with a blank sheet of paper. He’s not even met the squad and he’s had no real time to analyse them except from afar, and you don’t learn anything doing that.
This is as big a mess as it looks, folks, and he’s inheriting it when he finally starts.
Put aside any illusions you have that the machine is working away in the background.
Much of the Celtic Park structure is still being dismantled and I don’t believe that anybody is building anything in the shadows.