Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is set to take the Toon to face Celtic in a pre-season game in the Adidas Trophy final on Saturday, July 19th. Howe rejected the chance to become Celtic boss in the summer of 2021, with Ange Postecoglou instead taking over, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Howe would go on to take over at Newcastle in November 2021, just months after rejecting Celtic, with Ange leaving for Tottenham after two seasons. Howe turned down Celtic due to his inability to bring in his preferred backroom staff.
He stressed that having a trusted team was crucial in such a high-pressure role. Without the chance to work with his key assistants—Jason Tindall, Stephen Purches, Simon Weatherstone, and Dan Hodges—Howe felt it wouldn’t have been fair to either him or the club to accept the job.
Most Celtic supporters would thank Howe for rejecting the Hoops, as if he hadn’t, Angeball may not have been created. Under Postecoglou, Celtic won 5 out of 6 domestic trophies, and it’s interesting to imagine where Celtic would be today given the enormous rebuild Ange oversaw.
Howe might have struggled to achieve the same success as the current Tottenham boss did during his time at Celtic.
With the Englishman delighted to travel to Paradise, that will play a huge part of Newcastle’s pre-season preparations for next season.
He said: (Celtic FC), “Travelling to Glasgow to face Celtic is a great opportunity to test ourselves as we gear up for Premier League and European football next season.
“We’ll face a top team at an historic ground, with a big away crowd there to support us.”
Howe may take charge of Celtic one day, but for now, he’s enjoying life at Newcastle, having secured Champions League football in 2023, and won the EFL Cup this season, ending their 70-year domestic trophy drought.
The Englishman is an impressive coach, and it will be interesting to see how Newcastle get on, with Celtic defeating the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea in pre-season last year in the US.
