Keith Jackson has suggested that the role of General Manager could be introduced to Celtic’s post Lawwell structure as the club adapts to a new way of operating after 17 years largely under the control of an accountant.
Dom McKay moves in next Monday to work alongside Lawwell until July 1 when he takes on the reigns with little known about how the club will operate going forward.
It is assumed that a Director of Football would liaise between CEO and football manager but according to Jackson there is someone already within the club that could step up to a greater role.
The award-winning Daily Record man is more associated with scoops from across the city but over the last year he has been close to the action at Celtic Park. Last year Lawwell’s only newspaper interview was with Jackson.
In today’s Record he explains:
Dominic McKay will do his best to slip into that void (Lawwell, CEO), not just to keep the club stable but also to begin moving it forward again but if he’s as smart as he appears to be then the man from Murrayfield won’t make the mistake of taking on too much of Lawwell’s mantle.
He’ll have enough on his plate just getting his head around this madhouse he’s about to call home. Put it this way, long gone are the days when a crisis would constitute the French scoring a last minute drop kick causing someone in the main stand to drop his Stilton.
To that end it might come as no surprise if Michael Nicholson – who is currently in charge of the club’s legal affairs – is promoted to a more overarching position, perhaps as general manager.
And as part of this grand restructuring, Howe wants old pal and long time confidant Richard Hughes to be shoehorned into a key role in player recruitment. On the face of it, this seems like a logical move. But if Lawwell and McKay already have someone else in mind for that position that it’s also an obvious obstacle to Howe’s own appointment as manager.
Nicholson is very much a Lawwell man, working very closely to the instructions of the CEO since he joined Celtic as Company Secretary in March 2013.
Since December 2019 Nicholson has been Director of Legal and Football Affairs, he is also a member of the Professional Game Board at the SFA.
Fergal Harkin and Richard Hughes are the two names most linked with the newly created role of Director of Football but there may be someone inside the club ready to step up to a promoted role.
CLICK HERE for Nicholson’s Linked-In profile.