Owen Coyle admits that turning down the Celtic job in the summer to stay in England was a wrench for him. The boyhood Hoops fan, who was in charge at Burnley when he was offered the opportunity to replace Gordon Strachan, rejected the position to have a crack at managing in Europe’s top league.
Speaking exclusively to STV Sports Centre in an interview to be broadcast on Friday March 19 at 10.35pm, Coyle – who is now in charge at Bolton Wanderers – says only the timing of the job offer stopped him from taking charge at Parkhead instead of Tony Mowbray.
“I was offered the job and I turned it down,” Coyle admitted. “Celtic are my team and they will always be my team. I just felt at that time, under the circumstances, that I was in the best league in the world in the [English] Premier League and I wanted to have a real go at it.
“I can't say that it was an easy decision. It was certainly emotional, there's no doubt about that. To be asked to be the manager of Celtic was so flattering. They are a global club Celtic and a family club. But as I said, at the time it wasn't right.”
Coyle, who managed at Falkirk and St Johnstone during his time in Scotland, went on to steer Burnley to a memorable start to their first season in the English top flight since 1976, turning their Turf Moor home ground into a fortress by losing just one of the 10 Premier League home games under his charge.
Their first win at home came against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, with Robbie Blake scoring the decisive goal in a famous 1-0 victory.
Celtic fans looked on enviously as Coyle’s team picked up a succession of impressive victories, while their new man, Tony Mowbray, struggled to get his team to keep up the pace with league leaders Rangers, who now sit 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Despite their poor run this season, Coyle has encouraged Celtic and their supporters to get behind their boss, saying that he is certain Mowbray will deliver success given time.
“They have a fantastic man in charge in Tony Mowbray,” Coyle said. “Outwith being a football man, he is a real, genuine person.
“He is somebody I have got a lot of time for. As I said, I've got no doubts that he'll deliver success to that club.”
