FAVOURITE: McGhee may take the hotseat at Parkhead
A £2million compensation package demanded for West Brom boss Tony Mowbray and has backroom team has swayed Hoops chiefs away from that option.
But the Celtic board are under pressure to install a new manager quickly, with disillusioned fans refusing to renew season tickets until they know who is going to be in charge of the team.
After being turned down by Burnley manager Owen Coyle, Celtic are understood to have contacted McGhee’s agent last night.
McGhee, 52, who is also a target for Aberdeen after they sacked Jimmy Calderwood, played for Celtic between 1985 and 1988 before moving to Newcastle.
Hoops fans already angry at relinquishing the championship to Old Firm rivals Rangers are refusing to renew season books until a team boss has been appointed and new players attracted to the club.
It is an added problem for the Parkhead board who are desperately trying to source a replacement manager after Gordon Strachan quit on Monday.
Chief executive Peter Lawwell returned from the Champions League Final in Rome yesterday and held talks with major shareholder Dermot Desmond with a view to making an appointment by the start of next week.
Mowbray had emerged as a likely candidate, but the
£2m it would take to prise him and assistants Mark Venus and Peter
Grant away has frightened the Hoops off.
A West Brom statement said: “We have not received an approach from Celtic nor would we welcome one.
“Tony is under contract for the next two years and we fully expect him to remain as our manager.”
Other
contenders include Swansea’s Roberto Martinez, who would also cost £1m
in compensation, along with Dundee United’s Craig Levein, Croatia boss
Slavin Bilic, David O’Leary and Roy Aitken.
Coyle has meanwhile confirmed Express Sport’s revelation that he is staying at Burnley.
He
was unhappy at the size of the Celtic transfer budget, having to move
his family back north and giving up a £1m bonus for earning promotion
to the Premiership.
“I’m very much focused on
what we hope to do in the Premiership,” said Coyle. “It’s an exciting
challenge and one I am looking forward to.
“We have an exciting prospect and challenge ahead of us and we want that to continue.”
Coyle
was a boyhood Celtic supporter and the Scottish-born former Republic of
Ireland international acknowledged the fears of Burnley fans that he
might leave because of his past affinity for the club.
He
added: “Obviously, they can see the attraction Celtic would hold to
someone like myself, growing up as a Celtic supporter, but it’s all
hypothetical.”
Striker Scott McDonald has
already admitted the players would like a new boss in place as quickly
as possible, especially with their first Champions League qualifier
just eight weeks away and contract issues involving several players
still to be resolved.
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