Opinion: Mark Lawwell’s own career and achievements deserve to be assessed on their own merits

Celtic’s announcement last night of the appointment of Mark Lawwell – son of now retired CEO Peter – to the role of Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment, will no doubt be met with a healthy dose of scepticism, even cynicism, in certain quarters – and understandably so.

When the appointment is the son of a CEO who had an 18-year run at the job and became something of a divisive figure to say the least, particularly when it came to being viewed as a de facto Director of Football himself, it’s hard not to jump to conclusions regarding Peter Lawwell’s influence as a now Non-Executive Director remaining front and centre when it comes to decision making at the club.

With Celtic being a far from transparent organisation we don’t know if the post was advertised, interviewed for, or how the decision-making process worked, leaving Celtic open to accusations of nepotism and jobs for the boys in much the same way as both Gordon Strachan’s sons being employed at the club attract.

Celtic don’t do themselves any favours in that regard, and it must be said the strange timing of Dermot Desmond’s recent interview with Celtic TV, which appeared to be a plant to convince the fans the final decision making on team matters lay solely with the manager, while laughably trying to convince us it aways had, now makes sense. Particularly so assuming this appointment was in the post and the club would have been all too aware it could, on paper, look like undermining Ange Postecoglou.

Mark Lawwell

The fact the appointment has also been announced without comment from the new start is also odd. The statement of the website shows no picture of Mark Lawwell and doesn’t even supply his initial thoughts on his appointment, instead the manager is the one commenting and giving his seal approval for the new man.

“I was very keen for Mark to join the Club and clearly I am delighted that he has accepted this important role and that we have been able to bring him to Celtic.

“Mark is someone who I worked closely with throughout my four years at Marinos, through which time we developed great trust and an excellent working relationship. He knows the way I like to work, the way my teams play and the particular player profile which this requires.”

“I know he will be a great addition to our team, leading our first-team scouting and recruitment function and delivering on our key objective of identifying and bringing exciting, talented players to the Club.

“We have a great team of people at the Club and since joining Celtic I have been hugely impressed by the staff around me who have all worked so hard to deliver success.

“I have said before that I didn’t want to make changes just for the sake of it, but we always aim to build and develop everything we do and in bringing Mark in I know we have made an appointment which will be hugely beneficial for us moving forward.”

Yet this role is clearly an important one an – the previous incumbent of a similar position, Nick Hammond held the position of Head of Football Operations nearly a year ago now. And if you remove the surname from the equation and look at the CV, Lawwell was head of City Football Group’s scouting and recruitment for ten years, a role that would have encompassed Manchester City, Yokohama Marinos and New York City.

CFG have been at the forefront of a footballing revolution and if Celtic have had the chance to appointment someone with that level of experience and no doubt with the contacts to boot, had the surname not been Lawwell, it’s hard not to say the appointment wouldn’t be viewed as something of a coup.

READ THIS…New Head of Recruitment Mark Lawwell instrumental in bringing Ange Postecoglou to Celtic

Celtic are now approaching a summer transfer window that could be the most important since the last one. Stage one of Ange Postecoglou’s squad overhaul has been completed, but as we touched on in an article yesterday this next stage, in terms of players coming in and a multitude of unwanted players requiring to be moved on, isn’t something the manager could be expected to do on his own and without distraction whilst focusing on the season ahead.

As such a new man at long last in the role has to be welcomed. The fact the relationship with the manager is also already in place can also be viewed as a positive, with no real bedding in period or requirement to develop an understanding of one another.

In short Celtic can start taking care of business in short order, and in a season with Champions League football ahead and a team proven short at European level on three fronts last season can arguably be addressed quickly.

From a Celtic perspective the modernisation and progression as a football club, although stated to the contrary by Dermot Desmond, has been behind the curve for some time. And although the club remain some distance behind, an appointment from CFG bringing with him the knowledge of how it is done in this century can only be viewed as a positive.

Sadly, however the accusations of nepotism are all to easy to direct at Celtic’s custodians without any real transparency as to the decision-making process. It shouldn’t be that way, as Mark Lawwell’s own career and achievements deserve to be assessed on their own merits, without the distraction of his father muddying the waters. And that’s all we can reasonably offer going forward, an opportunity to be judged on his future and his past, rather than those of his father.

Niall J

About Author

As a Bellshill Bhoy I was taken to my first Celtic game in the summer of 1987. It was Billy McNeill’s return to Celtic Park as manager and Celtic lost 5-1 to Arsenal . I thought I was a jinx, I think my Grandfather might have thought the same. It was the finest gift anyone ever gave me when he walked me through Parkhead's gates.

2 Comments

  1. Looks like he could be off to a flyer if the Jota news is correct, that the player wants a permanent move to Celtic.

    Celtic need to drop sentimentality when making decisions regarding players, management and coaching staff, thats my main gripe with those running the club!

  2. Rabbie Burns on

    I trust Ange, & Ange has publicly backed him, so I’m fine with it.