Karma is a wonderful thing. So is schadenfreude. But we shouldn’t really be gloating at all. Should we?
Why not? Over three months Celtic waited after taking Eddie Howe at his word he would join the club in the summer.
Three months. Three months of ‘will he, won’t he’. Three months of ‘when will he be announced’ and three months of absolute torture as Celtic waited to start a rebuild on a monumental scale whilst waiting for Howe to sign on the dotted line.
All the while it was rumoured that Howe was courting one of the top jobs in England.
Tottenham came and went then came again. Everton went for the experience of Rafa Benitez and now, the club that every national newspaper had Howe pencilled in for, Crystal Palace, are seemingly about to name another Celtic linked managerial candidate, Lucien Favre, as their new manager.
So where does this leave Howe and how do Celtic look now after pinning their hopes on a candidate, who on the face of it, did not deserve the amount of time and patience the club spent on him.
The fact that a minimum of three EPL clubs have now turned their noses up at Howe suggests that Celtic dodged a bullet on that one.
It also serves as a lesson to Howe. Probably the biggest job he ever had the chance to attain in his career, has passed him by.
He will rue the day he let the job go. But one thing is for sure, Howe will regret not taking the job more than Celtic will regret not getting their top target.