Harry Redknapp insists Celtic’s managerial dream team of Eddie Howe and Richard Hughes couldn’t have picked a better time to lead a revolution.
The former Portsmouth boss believes the duo are ideal for the crisis management required at a club which has just lost its grip on their Old Firm top dog status in Glasgow by going global in a rebuild geared at reclaiming the title from Rangers next season.
Record Sport’s exclusive that Howe should be in place by the end of the week won’t have come a minute too soon for Hoops fans after a catastrophic and trophyless campaign.
But Redknapp provided an insight into both men and pinpoints Hughes as key to the blueprint as an incoming technical director by bringing a cosmopolitan approach to his boyhood heroes.
He said: “I signed Richard and Eddie from Bournemouth at the same time when I was managing Portsmouth.
“Richard’s knowledge of players is excellent, not just in Britain but across the world. He speaks fluent Italian, he’s a great lad and he’s going to be very important to Eddie as he looks to bring success to Celtic and in the work which needs to be done.
“At Celtic they are going to be working at one of the biggest clubs in the world so it’s a great opportunity for them.
“With Steven Gerrard doing such a great job at Rangers, it may sound daft but it’s not a bad time to take over at Celtic so Eddie and Richard could be going to Glasgow at the perfect time.
“It’s not as though they are going to the club at a time when they’ve just won nine titles and are going for a tenth.
“They will be going in there on the back of a very poor season and the only way now is back up again.
“I have no doubt they will rise to the challenge, Richard is like Eddie in that it’s just football, football, football with them. There’s nothing much other than family and football and then walking the dog.
“Eddie relies on him with the recruitment and it’s that bond and trust they have in one another which is so important. Richard’s an interesting character, he has a cosmopolitan side to him and if you talk to him about any player from any part of the world, he seems to know almost everyone.
“He will give you chapter and verse on players I don’t know well. It’s that depth of knowledge and study which he puts into recruitment which makes him so valuable.
“He would be the perfect man at the perfect time for Celtic given the overhaul which will need to start this summer with so many players leaving and the rebuild which is about to take place.
“From the moment Eddie met with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond six weeks ago, the work will have been non-stop with regard to looking at next season and players who can do a job.
“Richard’s ability to bring in boys who are free agents or out of contract, he can look outside the box and I’ve no doubt he’d deliver the players Celtic need.”
Former Scotland cap Hughes is currently technical director at the Cherries and his successes and failures in the transfer market are mixed with the likes of Newcastle’s Callum Wilson and Everton’s Joshua King both part of his recruitment resume as is Nathan Ake who landed the club £41m after his move to Manchester City.
Redknapp expects Cherries coaches Stephen Purches and Simon Weatherstone to also head north from the Vitality Stadium as part of a revamped backroom team at Celtic and he’s convinced trust will become the byword at their Lennoxtown base.
He said: “Never underestimate the bond within a coaching team, Richard and Eddie are such great pals and Richard is a massive Celtic man and if he comes then he’ll be a huge part of Eddie’s team and plans for what lies ahead.
“Eddie will know that Richard has his back and there may be one or two others coming in from Bournemouth as Eddie will definitely want to surround himself with people that he knows inside out.
“It’s a big job but it would also be a great job for him. People talk to me about taking a job like Celtic or taking a job in the English Premier League but it’s not like Eddie or Richard are going to get a top six club to work with.”
The 74-year-old also admits anyone who’s looking to see Howe or Hughes swanning down Buchanan Street will be left disappointed.
“Eddie’s not one for going out, he’s not a drinker and you won’t see him out and about in the city, he’ll be doing his work at the football club all day and then it’ll be back to the family and walking his dog.
“I actually don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a restaurant in Bournemouth and it’s only a small town.
“He’s just a steady Eddie. Richard is similar in the fact he keeps his profile low and just gets on with the football.
“I hope it works out for them both and it’s going to be some test for them.
“When I heard Jamie O’Hara say on talkSPORT that Bournemouth are bigger than the Old Firm I thought he must have been drunk. It was total nonsense, Celtic and Rangers are much bigger clubs and Eddie could be in for a shock as he’s not worked at a club anywhere near the size of the one one which awaits him in Glasgow.”
