Less than 18 months after bringing ‘his wealth of knowledge and expertise’ to the club Celtic have announced the departure of Nick Hammond.
Officially he is off to pursue new opportunities but an 89 word statement last night suggested that the decision was welcomed by both parties.
Hammond came in on an advisory basis in the summer of 2019 and impressed Peter Lawwell into giving him a permanent executive position.
Among the first signings under Hammond was Boli Bolingoli, when it came to facing Cluj in a Champions League qualifier with a 1-1 away draw in the first leg Neil Lennon left the former Rapid Vienna man on the bench with Callum McGregor played at left-back.
Two months after the costly Champions League exit, in October 2019, announcing Hammond’s appointment, Peter Lawwell told the Celtic website:
We are delighted to appoint Nick to the position of Head of Football Operations. He has provided excellent advice to the club over the summer period and his wealth of knowledge and expertise will be invaluable to Celtic going forward.
We are delighted that he has agreed to join the club permanently and having worked so successfully with the club already, we have ensured important wealth of knowledge and expertise. This is a hugely important role at the club and in Nick we have appointed a man who we know will deliver excellent results.
The sight of John McGinn and Kieran Tierney combining so well for Scotland last night gave Celtic fans a sense of ‘here’s what you could have won’.
At the 2020 AGM Lawwell boasted of spending £35m on players since July 2019, effectively the Tierney transfer fee which basically covers Hammonds’s time at Celtic.
Over the last six years John Park, Lee Congerton and Hammond have been in charge of Celtic’s recruitment, whoever is next in that role has a massive task trying to make something out of the disastrous signings made since Youssouf Mulumbu was preferred to McGinn in August 2018.