- Peter Grant says Eddie Howe Celtic talk could return if Newcastle’s manager becomes a candidate for Manchester United
- The former Celtic midfielder made the comments on GO Radio. Sketching a domino effect that ends with Michael Carrick at Parkhead
- Howe has already explained he turned down Celtic in 2021 because he could not bring coach Jason Tindall and his full backroom team
Peter Grant has outlined a three-club managerial chain that, in his view, could eventually reach Celtic Park. The former Celtic midfielder believes Eddie Howe Celtic speculation would only resurface if Newcastle’s manager first becomes a serious option for Manchester United.
Three key takeaways on Grant’s managerial domino theory
- Grant rates Howe as a genuine contender for Old Trafford if a vacancy opens there. He is offering his own reading of the situation rather than reporting confirmed transfer business.
- If Howe did leave Newcastle, Grant says he would push for Michael Carrick, his former West Ham teammate, to be considered at Celtic. Only should Martin O’Neill move on. Grant stressed he hopes O’Neill stays involved in some capacity.
- Howe’s own account of rejecting Celtic in 2021 centres on staffing. Not on any issue with the club, which sits at odds with the version Grant says he was “led to believe.”
How Peter Grant mapped out the managerial dominoes
Speaking on GO Radio, in comments carried by the Daily Record report, Grant said he would be glad to see Eddie Howe take charge at Parkhead one day. “I’d be very proud if he became the Celtic manager if Martin decided to leave. But hopefully Martin will still be part of it, whether that’s upstairs or still the manager, that’s fine,” Grant said.
Grant went further. He argued that the size of the job at Old Trafford makes Howe a plausible target for United. “Man United’s the only team that’s got more pressure than Celtic and Rangers in all the time I’ve been down in England,” he said, framing a potential United vacancy as the trigger for the rest of his theory.
That is where Carrick enters the picture. Grant worked alongside the Middlesbrough manager at West Ham and has followed his coaching career closely since. “Michael Carrick was one when he was out of work that I’d have mentioned for Celtic. I still wouldn’t go away from that,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to work with Michael at West Ham. He’s another one who understands the game but has got a calmness about him.”
Grant was careful to present this as a chain of hypotheticals rather than a prediction. “If Michael lost his job and Eddie took it, I’d then look at Michael Carrick,” he added, tying Carrick’s Celtic candidacy directly to Howe first leaving Newcastle for United.
The expert angle: Staffing issues blocked 2021 Parkhead move
Grant’s comments also revisited why Howe never took the Celtic job in the first place. He suggested the breakdown came down to backroom staff. “His coaching staff weren’t prepared to move up. I find it strange because they moved to Newcastle. I don’t think that was the right reason Eddie didn’t come. That’s for sure,” Grant said.
Howe has given his own account of that decision. Speaking on Simon Jordan’s UpFront podcast, he explained that after leaving Bournemouth in 2020 he took a year away from the game before Celtic approached him. “I was immediately attracted to the job. I thought, ‘Wow, what an opportunity. What a football club.’ Great people as well,” Howe said.
“But I had to get my staff together. If I were going to go into a football club, I could have gone in on my own. I could have gone into Celtic on my own and said, ‘Right, I am going to work with the staff that are there.’ But I felt for my first job back, that would have been big. I felt I needed to go in at my strongest. My strongest would have been with my team.”
Howe named Jason Tindall specifically. “Jason (Tindall) had left Bournemouth. But I couldn’t get them together, that’s an important dynamic. I didn’t feel that it was right for me to take that opportunity in that moment. It would have been wrong for Celtic as well, I think. I declined the offer.”
That leaves two competing explanations on record. Grant’s belief is that club alignment, not staffing, was the real sticking point. Howe’s own words point squarely at his inability to assemble Tindall and the rest of his Bournemouth team before agreeing to take the job.
What happens next at Celtic Park
Nothing here is close to a live transfer situation. Manchester United have made no move for Howe. Celtic have made no approach to Carrick. Grant’s scenario depends on two jobs changing hands, at Old Trafford and potentially at Parkhead. Neither of which is currently in motion.
For now, O’Neill remains in the Celtic dugout, with his team’s current form under Martin O’Neill already under scrutiny from supporters this season. Attention closer to home is on team selection rather than the manager’s future, with O’Neill weighing personnel calls as Celtic prepare for their next fixture, where O’Neill weighs up team changes against Ferencvaros.
Howe, for his part, remains under contract at Newcastle with no indication he is seeking an exit. Carrick continues in his post at Middlesbrough. Grant’s domino theory is a reading of the landscape from a man who knows both managers personally, not a signal that any of the three clubs involved are working towards the outcome he describes.
