Stuart Lovell believes that Nicky Hammond can uncover left-field signings like Lubo Moravcik and Emilio Izaguirre.
That duo cost £1m and went on to give Celtic outstanding service despite arriving to less than blue chip headlines.
Lovell was already at Reading when goalkeeper Hammond arrived from Swindon and was immediately impressed by someone who seemed a bit different from the usual ‘daft goalie’ persona.
The Australian moved on to Hibs and media work but his former team-mate went behind the scenes at Reading as he started out in a new career in recruitment that led to West Brom in the EPL.
Celtic’s recruitment over the last four transfer windows has been horrendous but after being drafted into the club in July Hammond appears to have had a hand in some clever acquisitions towards the end of the last window.
January is critical to Celtic’s European prospects, had Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli been brought in at the turn of the year there is every chance that the hoops would be playing in the Champions League rather than the Europa League.
Preparations for January will be well underway- with a striker the number one target- with Lovell expecting his former Reading team-mate to come up with the right results.
He told The Sun:
You can be sure Nicky will have built up a network of contacts and scouts from his time down south. You don’t just forget that information. Celtic aren’t able to compete with the big guns in England and some of the juggernauts in the rest of Europe.
Over the years they’ve pulled out some gems like Izaguirre, who became player of the year. That was a real left-field signing but you’d have to say it was a success. They’ve had Wanyama, Beram Kayal, Ki Sung-yueng. These are guys from far flung places and you wouldn’t necessarily have found them.
I was lucky enough to play against Lubo Moravcik. When he signed for Celtic it was like ‘who are Bastia’? You need to let your eyes tell you whether a player is any good. You can find gems if you look far enough.
That’s the task for Nick. They were in a bit of a transitional period when Brendan left and Neil Lennon came in but I don’t think anyone can be critical of who they’ve signed.
It looks like they’ve done some really good business. The challenge is to replicate what John Park did for years. If you want someone with a blueprint and an idea how to formulate the scouting system and to find those players lots of clubs are competing for, there’s no question Nick has a proven track record.
People talk about signings but recruitment of your staff is just as important and I think his could be a really significant signing for Celtic.
January signings will be able to play in the Europa League in February with Neil Lennon able to name a new 25-man squad.