Darrent Bent claims Eddie Howe would snub West Brom job
Darren Bent claims West Brom stand no chance of luring Eddie Howe to The Hawthorns amid links to the Celtic job.
The Guardian recently reported that the Scottish giants are ‘closing in’ on the appointment of the former Bournemouth manager and that has sparked debate on the airwaves.
Ex-Aston Villa striker Bent was quick to chime in his twopence when asked on talkSPORT Drive [17:00, 02/04/21] whether taking on the Albion job, currently held by Sam Allardyce, would be a better career choice than crossing the border to lead the Hoops.
“If I’m Eddie Howe I’m going to Celtic,” he said.
“Because I’m thinking ‘big job getting West Brom out of the Championship but now…’ the expectation is completely different.
“You go to West Brom you expect to get promoted but it’s nowhere near the expectation levels of Celtic and also there you’ve got Europe as well.”
Bent was then asked if his opinion would change if Albion remain in the Premie League rather than fall to their expected relegation.
He said: “The Premier League is the biggest and best in the world but in terms of the size of the club West Brom are nowhere near the size of Celtic.”
Never a realistic option
That’s a pretty unequivocal answer from Bent and in reality, is probably a fair assessment.
At Celtic, they always have a shot at getting into the Champions League or Europa League while domestic trophies are almost a foregone conclusion there.
Clearly, that is likely to appeal to someone like Howe who has experienced constant defeats and relegation in recent years.
He might get a bigger wedge at Celtic as they eye a revolution to bring down Rangers and that probably suits him more.
At Bournemouth, he was bankrolled by the club’s owner and handed free reign to bring his own players in, often on huge wages and sizeable transfer fees.
Howe wouldn’t get such fortune at West Brom and there would be question marks as to his hunger for the task in hand so we won’t be tearing up at his likely move to Parkhead.
Albion were never really expected to go in for him so there’s not much skin off our nose here.
In other West Brom news, Big Sam urges Albion loanee to extend Hawthorns stay.
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