FORMER Celtic managerial target Eddie Howe has revealed his reasons for not taking the Parkhead role last summer.

The Newcastle boss explained that staffing was amongst the problems he faced when considering the "pressured" position.

It was an attempted recruitment process that dragged on during and after a disastrous 2020/21 season for the Bhoys.

In the end, the deal to bring the former Bournemouth manager north fell apart, and Ange Postecoglou was drafted in as a replacement.

The current Hoops gaffer came from the other side of the world on his own, but the Englishman felt he needed to be able to take a full team with him to Scotland to allow him to be successful.

Speaking to Alan Shearer for the Athletic, he said: "Celtic was the one job I’d been offered that really appealed.

"The issue there was my staff. I felt that if I was to come into a pressured job like that, I needed to go in with a sense of stability.

"I could have recruited new staff, but then you’re working each other out and there’s a transition process where it probably takes three, four, five months.

"That’s five months too late. I needed my staff with me and we couldn’t get them together.”