Tony Mowbray yesterday made his valedictory speech to the West Bromwich Albion legions and refused to rule out the possibility of revisiting his old club for conscripts to his Celtic revolution.

Tony Mowbray yesterday made his valedictory speech to the West Bromwich Albion legions and refused to rule out the possibility of revisiting his old club for conscripts to his Celtic revolution.

The new manager has not even had time to re-arrange the furniture in his Lennoxtown office before a list of former players, either directly or indirectly, were queuing up to follow him to the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Paul Robinson, the West Brom captain and left-back, has been most vociferous in his efforts to engineer a move to Celtic, while Borja Valero, the midfielder, and Marc-Antoine Fortune, the Nancy striker he signed on loan, have also emerged as summer signing targets.

Mowbray hinted strongly that a disagreement with the West Brom chairman, Jeremy Peace, was the catalyst for his departure and, despite a diplomatic farewell to the club, he did not discount making the aforementioned players primary targets for strengthening his new team.

"A lot of managers do go back to their old clubs for players because they know them, but whether I do that or not we will wait and see," Mowbray said. "It's never easy to get players and, if West Brom have players they don't want to lose, I'm sure they won't be going anywhere."

Will he at least test the water, though, as part of his rebuilding work? "I don't think it's right to answer that," he added. "I haven't seen the players here yet and I will make my real assessments on the training ground."

A striker is the priority area before Celtic begin their season with a daunting Champions League third-round qualifier at the end of next month. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink is out of contract and expected to return to PSV Eindhoven, while Scott McDonald's season has been prolonged by Australia's World Cup qualifiers.

Mowbray's need for creativity has been intensified by confirmation that Shunsuke Nakamura has signed a contract with Espanyol, while Stephen McManus' recovery from knee surgery has added to his defensive problems, with a new left-back also desirable.

He hinted that his strained relationship with Peace may preclude any simple negotiations with West Brom for players, despite the outpouring of loyalty from the squad he took to the Barclays Premier League only to be relegated back to the Coca-Cola Championship after one season. Ironically, Gordon Strachan, the man he replaced at Celtic, has been recommended for the West Brom job by Ron Atkinson. "Footballers are governed by their contracts," he said, "as all the players I inherited were. They stayed because their contracts dictated they had to and it's the manager's job to get on with them.

"I have spoken to one or two of the players who have been in contact with me.

I think I had a strong working relationship with all my players and that was reflected in their commitment and endeavour on the field.

"It's not a bad thing if players are disappointed when a coach leaves because it shows the strength that the team and the club has got.

"The job for the next manager is to try to build on that and develop it. When I first arrived a lot of players had a loyalty to Bryan Robson and you have to build your own bridges and stamp your own personality on the situation and the challenge for the next guy is to develop his own relationships."

Mowbray stressed he left West Brom with a heavy heart but a clear conscience and reiterated that the emotional pull of a return to Celtic, where he spent an enjoyable and emotional four seasons, was irresistible.

"I hope the supporters understand the reasons for me leaving and don't think I've jumped at the first chance that came along. Iwould hope I've got more substance than that," he said.

"Whether I could have given the same commitment and desire to win every game next season, after the events of this season, was questionable. I balance it with a very clear conscience. I hope they all enjoyed the journey for 2 years because I know Idid."