‘Eddie Howe reminds me of Brendan Rodgers’, says former Celtic midfielder

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:44 CDT
• 2 min read

Former Celtic midfielder Paul Hartley believes Eddie Howe would be a good choice for the next manager of the Glasgow giants as he has similarities to ex-Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

Rodgers arrived in the Scottish Premiership to much fanfare and led Celtic to a double treble in his first two years with the club, winning consecutive league, Scottish Cup, and League Cup titles.

The Bhoys’ pursuit of a historic 10th title in a row in the 2020/21 season has failed under the management of Rodgers’ replacement, Neil Lennon, however, with the former Hibs boss leaving by mutual consent before the end of the campaign.

Celtic, then, are on the lookout for a new manager.

One of the front runners is believed to be Howe, who has been out of management since resigning from Bournemouth last summer.

Hartley thinks Howe would bring the same gravitas to the role that Rodgers did.

“I like the way Eddie Howe set his teams up at Bournemouth,” Hartley told Sky Sports.

“He reminds me a little bit of Rodgers in the way his teams played.

“I liked watching Bournemouth. I thought they played a good style of football – attractive. I think he would be a name [for Celtic].”

Who will be the next Celtic manager?

In addition to Howe, numerous names have been mentioned as potential successors to Lennon including Steve Clarke, Roberto Martinez, Enzo Maresca, Domenec Torrent, Frank Lampard and Rafael Benitez.

FootballTransfers recently detailed some of the candidates and their suitability for the role in the hot seat at Celtic Park.

With Celtic having performed so poorly this season, there is a general feeling that the new manager will need to complete a significant squad overhaul this summer, with several big names set to leave.

Star striker Odsonne Edouard has been strongly linked with Leicester City, Arsenal, and Aston Villa, while Kristoffer Ajer has caught the attention of Milan, Borussia Dortmund, and Atletico Madrid.