Celtic boss makes ‘big’ Newcastle United claim after Champions League return

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has hailed Eddie Howe for the remarkable transformation he has led at Newcastle United.
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The Magpies were in the midst of a battle against relegation from the Premier League when he was named as successor to Steve Bruce in November 2021. After leading United away from the bottom three and into the safety of mid-table, Howe began a planning process that would ensure his first full season at St James Park exceeded all expectations.

After successfully integrating January signings like Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier into his side, Howe was able to add further quality when Nick Pope, Alexander Isak and Sven Botman all moved to St James Park last summer. With new additions being entwined with the improvement Howe coaxed out of several players he inherited from Bruce, hopes were high a much improved campaign could be played out.

Ange Postecoglou has revealed he is in regular contact with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond.  (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Ange Postecoglou has revealed he is in regular contact with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond.  (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Ange Postecoglou has revealed he is in regular contact with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
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Talk of a push for a top ten place in the Premier League table and a good run in a cup competition dominated Tyneside ahead of the season - but Howe’s men have surpassed those modest expectations by securing a return to the Champions League after a 20-year absence from European football’s elite club competition.

Things could have been very different had Howe progressed with talks to take over at Celtic prior to Postecoglou’s arrival in the summer of June 2021 - but the former Bournemouth boss is now a much-loved figure at St James Park and the Hoops boss believes Howe deserves a lot of credit for the job he has done on Tyneside.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday night’s visit to Hibernian, he said: “I absolutely admire the job Eddie has done at Newcastle. You can see why this football club wanted him to take charge here. He’s a very impressive person, as well as a manager. He has done an unbelievable job and I also felt he did a great job at Bournemouth.

“Eddie has worked his way up, he has done all the hard bits you need to do as a manager. He has had to earn everything along the way. It’s great for Eddie and for Newcastle that they are back in the Champions League. It’s a big club that hasn’t enjoyed a lot of success recently, so it’s great to see them back in there.”

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Meanwhile, Newcastle have confirmed they have received 8,000 tickets for their pre-season friendly at Rangers. The tickets will go on sale at 10am on Thursday morning and will initially be made available to season ticket holders with 50 or more away points.

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