Celtic v Newcastle – A Sort of Homecoming for Eddie Howe

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The Celtic Star

·18 luglio 2025

Celtic v Newcastle – A Sort of Homecoming for Eddie Howe

Tomorrow sees Celtic Park welcome its first guests of the new season, as the players return from the muggy heat of Portugal to the more palatable climes of Glasgow’s east end — and none other than Newcastle United are making the journey north, complete with ten thousand Geordies. This should be fun!

Fans react during an open-top bus victory parade as they celebrate the Newcastle United Football Club’s Carabao Cup success during the Newcastle United trophy parade and celebration on March 29, 2025 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Newcastle United defeated Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final to end their seventy-year domestic trophy drought. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

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There’s a wee bit more intrigue than your typical mid-July bounce game

It’s a fixture that, on paper, may read like just another pre-season friendly, but there’s a wee bit more intrigue than your typical mid-July bounce game. For one, Newcastle aren’t sending the kids or the second string — this is a well-constructed Premier League machine that’s been building steadily under Eddie Howe.

And therein lies the other story.

A peculiar sort of homecoming for a man who almost managed Celtic

Because this is not just a visit from a club on the rise, but also a peculiar sort of homecoming for a man who almost managed Celtic… but didn’t. A man who, for a few days — or was it weeks..months even? — had the support glued to Sky Sports News, waiting, hoping even.

Howe, who had seemingly agreed to take the reins at Celtic before pulling out at the eleventh hour — reportedly unable to convince his backroom staff to relocate to Glasgow. It was the managerial equivalent of being left at the altar. The bouquets had been ordered. The guests were arriving. And then – jilted.

Instead, we got Ange Postecoglou

New manager Ange Postecoglou poses for a photo at Celtic Park Glasgow. Photo Jeff Holmes

Instead, we got Ange Postecoglou — unknown to many, doubted by more, you know who you are — and the rest is history.

Howe went on to enhance his reputation at Newcastle, where he’s now guiding them back to competitive relevance, silverware in hand and big European nights ahead once again. Ange, meanwhile, gave us a treble and irresistible football, and earned his own move to the EPL with Spurs.

In the end, it worked out for both parties. No hard feelings, surely? But this is Celtic Park, and if there’s one thing the home crowd can do, it’s bring the theatre. So, will Eddie get the polite golf clap of historical curiosity? A shoulder-shrug of ‘whatever’?

Or will the support reach into their pantomime booing bag and give him the sort of reception usually reserved for those who we feel have wronged us?

Time will tell — but you suspect Eddie might be spared any real venom. After all, this is pre-season, and I doubt many hold any sort of grudge to Eddie Howe whatsoever, in fact he’ll simply be a respected manager in the opposition dug-out.

New Newcastle Head Coach Eddie Howe pictured with the club shirt at his unveiling press conference at St. James Park on November 10, 2021. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

As for the game itself, Howe’s lads might arrive a bit leggy, by his own admission on club TV Newcastle United. Celtic have been hard at it in Portugal, while Newcastle’s trip to the continent saw more drizzle than dazzle. That said, the Magpies have Arsenal, Spurs, and Atletico Madrid on the horizon, so expect them to use this as a real test.

“We expected it to be hot and it hasn’t been so far. It’s been pretty similar to this overcast and a bit drizzly.

“We’ll have a single session on Friday. Try and get the lads in a decent physical condition for Celtic, albeit they’re probably going to the game slightly jaded. We hope to produce a good performance in front of what will be, as we know, a passionate home support, but also a bigger away following.

“I think when you look at our pre-season games, every game’s a test. You know, Carlisle was a test because they were two weeks ahead of us in terms of fitness. So that was a really good workout in our first game. This will be a big step up in terms of opposition.

“And then, of course, we go into the tour of South Korea and Singapore with Arsenal, Tottenham and various other challenges, finishing with Atletico Madrid, which is a game we’re all looking forward to.”

It should be a proper occasion, then — ten thousand away fans, a noisy Celtic Park, two ambitious sides with eyes on bigger prizes, and a familiar face standing in the opposition dugout, wondering what kind of cheer (or jeer) awaits.

So, welcome to Paradise, Newcastle. We look forward your passion, your noise and your team. And as for you, Eddie — welcome back, sort of.

Niall J

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter

Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered the late David Potter’s last ever Celtic book, Celtic in the Eighties, which will be published on the fifth day of September by Celtic Star Books. The link to pre-order your copy is below…

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, out 5 September 2025. Available to pre-order now.