Soccer:Mark McGhee admits he is flattered to be linked with the Celtic job. McGhee emerged as one of the contenders for the vacancy yesterday, with West Brom boss Tony Mowbray the bookies' favourite to replace Gordon Strachan.

But the Motherwell manager refused to reveal whether he would be willing to follow in the footsteps of close friend Strachan.

McGhee said: “I have no view on my immediate future but it’s flattering to be talked of in these terms. I never thought of myself as re-starting my career when I came into management in Scotland.

“I thought of it as continuing my career in a different direction. I had a shout for the Hearts job but I did what was best for Motherwell and not necessarily what was best for me when I turned the chance down.

“When I was younger I used to jump at jobs when they came up. I thought it was too early for me to leave Fir Park when the vacancy arose at Tynecastle. It would have been the easy option to go but it would also have been letting Motherwell down.

“Now I have an understanding with my chairman, John Boyle, concerning my future.”