Chris Sutton has urged Peter Lawwell to hand the transfer reigns over to Nicky Hammond.
Without going into any level of detail the former West Brom and Reading scout was appointed Celtic’s Head of Football Operations earlier this week after moving to the club in July to assist with transfers.
Lee Congerton’s departure was welcomed by most supporters but the transfer hierarchy of the club remains something of a mystery with the perception being that football decisions are made by the Chief Executive.
In June an alleged internal memo detailed scouting activities with most concluding with the phrase ‘PL to discuss with agents’.
Whether recruitment has been the responsibility of Lawwell, Congerton or whoever Celtic have suffered on the park with poor transfer windows resulting in successive failures to reach the group phase of the Champions League.
Celtic won’t be able to conclude any business until January with Sutton looking for a decisive shift in power when the window opens.
He told the Daily Record:
Hammond getting the gig permanently should give Celtic stability and it sounds like he has a good working relationship with Neil Lennon. The interesting thing is the grand title. It looks like he has been given a lot of power. It could be seen as a sign of Lawwell gradually taking a step back.
I doubt he would let anyone else take the wheel but there’s not much point in just appointing a puppet. If the chief executive has liked what Hammond has suggested in terms of the structure of the club and the work he has done, then he has to have full trust in his new man to hand him the reins.
A manager is only as good as his recruitment and Hammond has to give Lennon the tools to win nine in a row – but also to shake off this perception Celtic are now a Europa League club. They’ve only reached the Champions League group stage twice in six years and that is not good enough for a club of this stature.
According to the latest set of accounts Celtic have close to £40m sitting in the bank with this season’s accounts to include £25m from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney.
