Tony Mowbray has ended weeks of speculation surrounding Gordon Strachan’s successor as Celtic manager by signing a rolling 12-month contract with his former club.
Mowbray was given permission by West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace to open negotiations with the Parkhead club on Saturday after Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell eventually agreed to the Baggies’ request for €2.3million compensation.
As expected, Mowbray agreed personal terms and will be joined in the east end of Glasgow by Mark Venus, his assistant at The Hawthorns, and Peter Grant, his first-team coach at Albion and a former Celtic team-mate.
Neil Lennon will join the new management team but his role is as yet unknown.
Mowbray’s first job will be to assess his squad ahead of the first of possibly two tricky Champions League qualifiers at the end of July.
With the Clydesdale Bank Premier League fixtures being announced tomorrow, Mowbray will also discover who will be his first opponents in the forthcoming league campaign.
Despite Albion’s relegation from the Barclays Premier League last season, Mowbray brings with him a reputation for sparkling football forged, in part, during his time at Hibernian.
Celtic’s style of play became a sticking point for their fans under Strachan, despite his success in winning three consecutive SPL titles, three domestic cups and leading the Glasgow giants to the last 16 of the Champions League two years running.
Davie Hay, who was Celtic manager in the 1980s, pointed out that Mowbray will be under far more pressure at Parkhead than he ever was at The Hawthorns or Easter Road.
“There is more intense pressure from the fans,” he told Sky Sports. “The game means life and death to the Celtic fans.
“I’m not saying the West Brom fans don’t appreciate their team but it’s almost like a way of life for Celtic fans and I think that brings an intensity to the job that probably didn’t exist at West Brom.”
Mowbray will need no introduction to Celtic midfielder Scott Brown, defender Gary Caldwell and striker Chris Killen, all of whom were under his charge when he was at Easter Road.
However, the former Hibs boss will have to address several areas in the side and already he has been linked with numerous players including Baggies captain Paul Robinson, Nancy striker Marc-Antoine Fortune, Iceland international Hermann Hreidarsson and Sweden Under-21 skipper Mattias Bjarsmyr.
Albion chairman Peace will now turn his attention to finding a replacement for Mowbray.
“Tony leaves with our best wishes for a successful future in football,” he said. “We will now concentrate fully on the important task of appointing a new manager who can take the club forward.
“As we stated last week, we did not want to lose Tony nor did we encourage Celtic’s approach.
“However, there was a compensation clause in Tony’s contract which has been met to our satisfaction and, after talks with Celtic, Tony has decided to join them.”
