Celtic have denied former boss Tony Mowbray’s claims that the club prevented him from making a quick return to management.
Mowbray left the Hoops a year ago and claims he had to write off £350,000 in money owed to him by the Scottish giants in order to take charge of Middlesbrough last Autumn.
Mowbray told fans at a Q&A session: “I had three or four other offers before the Middlesbrough job came along.
“At the time, I was owed a lot of money by Celtic and they weren't prepared to do a deal to allow me to take those jobs, so I didn't take them.
“I thought they were being unfair so I waited. Then the Boro job came up and I was interested. I spoke with (chief executive) Keith (Lamb) and (chairman) Steve (Gibson) and we knew we had to do something with Celtic.
“I personally wrote off around £350,000 to take the Middlesbrough job. That's not me boasting, it's just the way it is.
“I wanted to get back to work really. I think my family were getting sick of me and I needed to get back in.”
However, a Celtic spokesman responded by saying: "We are very surprised at these comments.
“Here are the facts. Only one formal approach was made regards Tony and that was from Middlesbrough. We blocked no other approaches.
“Celtic paid every penny that was due to Tony under his contract up to the point where he requested to be released from his contract.
“This we did without hesitation in order that he could resume his career.”