Celtic aim to pacify West Bromwich Albion today with a cheque for about £1.4 million to secure the arrival of Tony Mowbray as their new manager, otherwise Mowbray will be forced to walk out on the club if he is to take up his career in Glasgow.
Mowbray, who has his heart set on a move, is expected to be presented to the media at Celtic Park today or tomorrow as the club’s next manager, along with Peter Grant and Mark Venus, his two assistants. It will leave a question mark over the future of Neil Lennon, Celtic’s first-team coach.
Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, will hold talks today with Jeremy Peace, the West Brom chairman, in the hope of thrashing out a deal. Peace is said to be aggrieved at the way Celtic have so blatantly courted his manager, although he may also be dealing with a fait accompli. The likelihood is that West Brom will accept Celtic’s offer of compensation.
Mowbray has a release clause in his West Brom contract, which was stipulated by the manager when he arrived at the Hawthorns from Hibernian in 2006, in the full knowledge that his managerial stock was on the rise.
Failure between Celtic and West Brom to strike an agreeable compensation package has led one West Brom director to openly hint that Mowbray could be “frozen out” of football, but this fanciful scenario will not happen.
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Having said that, Mowbray will not want to walk out on West Brom, a club with whom, notwithstanding his strained relationship with Peace, he has had good relations. The fans have idolised their manager and it would sour his move to Celtic if Mowbray was forced to desert the club, triggering a potential legal dogfight.
Speaking of the impending arrival of Mowbray, one of his former Celtic Park team-mates, Andy Walker, said yesterday: “I found Tony a really impressive guy in the dressing-room, a good communicator, and a strong character. He has the potential to do really well at Celtic. It would be hugely exciting.”
Another man who heartily endorses Mowbray’s imminent appointment is John Hartson, the former Celtic striker, whom Mowbray signed for West Brom in 2006. “I’ve said all along that Tony was the man for Celtic,” Hartson said. “He is a fantastic football coach, who gives players the confidence to express themselves.”
Meanwhile, Mark McGhee is expected to be unveiled as the new Aberdeen manager today, two weeks after Jimmy Calderwood’s abrupt departure from the club. McGhee, who had been linked with the Celtic job — and, indeed, had waited to see that situation clarified — is expected to sign a two-year contract with his old club.
Motherwell have accepted compensation from Aberdeen for McGhee, and will now join the current throng of clubs trying to find a new manager.