Following on from my article yesterday where I studied Brendan Rodgers longer than usual media conference ahead of today’s game against St Mirren and dissected what he said in regards to player retention and possible new recruits coming in, today I’m going to take a deeper look at what he said in terms of the overall structure of our recruitment team and what our strategy is regarding the type of player we are looking to bring in.

When asked what Celtic’s transfer strategy is now like with Mark Lawwell gone and whether the manager is more involved or not, Rodgers had this to say:

“We have got a recruitment team that works tirelessly over a number of months. I have said before that by the end of this window, we will have to look at that whole structure and set-up. The guys that are currently here have worked tirelessly on identifying targets and players that can fit into the model here. It is through no want of trying. Once those guys go through that list of players who fit into the profile of how we want to work that will then come to me to ratify the player that we would want and then that will go forward to the board to look to do the deal. That’s how it works.”

So basically the manager is praising the work being done by the current recruitment team, which of course he has to as he’s not going to throw them under the bus at such a crucial juncture in the transfer window. He goes on however to state that the whole structure and set up needs looked at after this window. Celtic’s head of first team scouting and recruitment Mark Lawwell and and lead first team scout Joe Dudgeon left the club at the end of February. I can’t fathom why it has taken the club so long to find replacements.

It’s not like they were in roles that were inconsequential, I mean they were literally the top two men at the club deciding on player recruitment. Brendan managed to steer us through last season and make it a successful one with a squad that wasn’t his own but we all knew come this summer he would want to mould the squad in his own image, not with the left overs of Ange Postecoglou’s reign.

So the fact that we have went into this crucial transfer window without proper leaders in the recruitment team is pretty galling. This must be a priority area Celtic should be looking to fix as we head towards January and the next opportunity to bring in players.

It would also be a bonus if we went out and brought in the best person for the job that we can get within our price range. For far too long this club recruits staff who have family connections at the club such as Mark Lawwell, or that they have previously played for Celtic. These things shouldn’t matter, it should be a fair and open process where the best person for the job gets the job. As my own father would say, it should be what you know not who you know.

When asked a question about how many more players Celtic need in this window, Brendan quite rightly swerved putting a figure out there that would later be thrown in his face but did say this:

“It is just getting the right level of quality. What I don’t want to bring in is players who just stiffen up our squad. We have already got that. We have players in here who are good players. If we are going to improve then we have to get another level of player to come in to add to that. That’s the search.”

The manager is spot on here. There is absolutely no point clearing the decks as we have done this summer just to fill the squad up again with decent back up players. We should only be interested in players capable of battling it out for a starting spot every weekend. We only have to look across the city to see what happens when you just buy for the sake of buying. You end up with a bloated squad full of players incapable of making any sort of impact on the first team. It is quality over quantity we need.

The fan hysteria heightens at this time of the year but I would much rather Celtic take their time and spend their money wisely than end up handing players like James McCarthy four year contracts then watch as they take money out of the club week after week, with little to no return in terms of making an impact on the pitch.

Another thing that is vital is that they have the mentality to succeed at Celtic. I know this is something that Rodgers is very interested in when it comes to player recruitment and rightly so.

There are players in football playing at a high level who would have all the skillset perfect for Celtic but would crumble under the scrutiny and pressure that comes with representing our club. We have all seen this happen many times before.

This is a reason why I don’t always think spending big money gets you the player you need but this is something I will be looking deeper into in my next article.

Conall McGinty

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