'Not much will have changed' at Celtic if Eddie Howe's appointment isn't accompanied by structural shifts, according to club legend Charlie Nicholas.
Nicholas issued the warning in his regular Daily Express column, as quoted by the Daily Record.
The lowdown
Howe is finally set to be confirmed as Neil Lennon's long-term successor this week.
It was almost two months ago that it was reported that those who went to check this website would have got very short odds as Celtic were on the verge of appointing the former Bournemouth boss.
Howe's desire to bring backroom staff from the Vitality Stadium, who were engaged in a Championship promotion bid, is one of the reasons for the hold-up.
The 43-year-old will face the daunting task of overhauling a 25-point deficit to Celtic's arch-rivals Rangers.
The latest
Nicholas is excited by the impending appointment, expressing his confidence that Howe will bring 'hope' to Glasgow and 'play in the right way'.
But he also admitted to fears that the 'dynamics' at the club may not meaningfully change - he thinks it's vital that Howe is able to put his own stamp on Celtic.
"It will be good to see Celtic get Eddie Howe over the line so the fans can finally get some vision and clarity," he said.
"There has been no leadership from the club hierarchy of late. Hopefully this pending appointment will be the start of better things to come.
"What I want to know is, where is the dynamic change we expected at the club? Is the appointment of Eddie the catalyst?
"He will do a very good job for Celtic, he'll give the club hope and play in the right way.
"But what's happening with the director of football role and the rest of the plan moving forward?
"If Howe's bringing in his own men then fair play to him.
"But if the likes of Gordon Strachan and John Kennedy are involved then not much will have changed - with the same old glove puppets reporting back to Dermot Desmond."
The verdict
As Nicholas suggests, failure to to really address what's wrong behind the scenes for the Hoops could make the Howe appointment rather meaningless.
The good news however is that, according to the Daily Record, incoming chief executive Dominic McKay may also present a new director of football this week as part of 'a major restructuring' - one would suspect that Howe sought assurances of this 'dynamic change' before he agreed to take the job.
The coming weeks should hopefully feel the like beginning of a new era at Parkhead.
In other news, a former Scottish international has issued his verdict on a potential Howe transfer target.