Former England defender Danny Mills believes that Celtic fans could turn on managerial target Eddie Howe if he makes the move to Parkhead amid talks with Crystal Palace.

Howe spoke with the Eagles over possibly taking over from Roy Hodgson after reportedly having second thoughts on the job at Celtic Park.

However, the former Bournemouth manager is now behind Burnley’s Sean Dyche in the Palace pecking order, and it seems as if a move to Glasgow could be back on, with reports suggesting the Englishman is finalising his Hoops backroom staff.

Mills was talking to Football Insider following the news of Dyche overtaking Howe as the front runner for the Palace job and what that means for the latter and the Hoops.

This is what the 43-year-old ex-Leeds defender had to say, believing that Celtic supporters may turn on Howe should he hit some troubling form in his Hoops tenure.

“Maybe he’s holding out for another job but if he holds out for too long and Celtic appoint somebody else then he doesn’t get the job he’s hoping for, suddenly you’re way down the list.

“It’s a little bit of a game of cat and mouse. You have to be careful.

“If somebody wants you, they want you. You have to make up your mind ‘Do I really want to go or not?’ Make that decision and stick with it.

“It puts you on the wrong foot with the fans because they’re thinking ‘He doesn’t really want to be here. He wants to be somewhere else.’

“The moment you have a couple of bad results they start going ‘Well, he didn’t want to be here in the first place, we were second choice. He’s only come here for the money.’

“You don’t really want to start like that.”

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Transfer Tavern take

We don’t agree entirely with Mills on this one. Howe’s representative admitted that the 43-year-old has attracted significant interest but wouldn’t return to the dugout until the summer at the earliest. Yes, he held talks with the Hoops and a deal is yet to be announced, but it seems as if Howe wanted certain assurances before putting pen to paper on a Parkhead move.

We’re sure the majority of Celtic fans would be delighted if Howe made the move, as many made clear last month.

A string of bad results early in his tenure may place him under pressure from some Hoops fans, but we’re not so sure they’d feel like he wouldn’t want to be there purely on the basis that he spoke with Palace.

As Howe mentioned back in November, his next job would have to be one which 'really motivated' him, so if he signs with Celtic, that tells you all you need to know about his feelings towards the Parkhead job.

In other news: Hoops still keen on £50,000-a-week midfielder, find out who it is here.