The Celtic manager also praised Nicky Hammond who has been working at Celtic on a temporary summer contract under the overall control of the de facto Director of Football and CEO Peter Lawwell. Hammond’s either leave because he’s not been offered a job or doesn’t fancy the remit and the structure or he comes in on permanent contract as Head of Recruitment.
Ideally though, as Niall J has argued on The Celtic Star this evening – Luca O’Connell and Jonathan Afolabi, see HERE – Hammond should be recruited as the Director of Football with a clear remit and responsibility, reporting back to the CEO.
Why this is controversial is something of a mystery to many supporters, especially those who attended or watched the match against Cluj or read the Celtic Underground article last month that shone a light into the workings of the Celtic scouting department this year.
The Celtic manager today praised Hammond for his “absolutely huge” role he has played over the past two months.
“He has worked tirelessly, he has been here, there and everywhere, he has been around Europe looking at players, meeting agents, club representatives, talking to people on the phone constantly. He is so diligent.
“I have enjoyed working with him the last few weeks and we have had a good week and everything starts to look even more promising. The players we brought in, a lot of it is down to his hard work.”
The Celtic manager also suggested that there were enquires for some of his players that were dismissed but one player he wanted to send out on loan – Jack Hendry – never got a move though so will presumably be out in the cold barring emergency until the January window opens.
“There were other parties that might have intervened or interrupted the process.
“We will work away with Jack and get him up to speed, he has been out for a long time with injury. It’s going to be difficult for him but it’s down to him to take it head on,” the Celtic manager said.
Hendry knocked back a chance to go out to Kilmarnock on loan with team-mate Calvin Miller also rejecting a move to Rugby Park. This resulted in Celtic having to pay £2.2million for Taylor on the last day of the window.
You know, with a Director of Football in place, Celtic could have secured the services of Taylor on the FIRST day of the transfer window for the same sum paid yesterday and he’d have been available for the Champions League qualifiers, you know this games that the club tells us are among the most important of the season yet we are continually ill-prepared.
A Director of Football’s remit is to make sure that this never happens again.
LISTEN Celtic boss Neil Lennon's delighted with the transfer window with Greg Taylor "a very consistent player at this level, young enough to develop into an even better player than what he already is" pic.twitter.com/NwXDvLl8B0
— Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) September 3, 2019
ALSO ON THE CELTIC STAR TODAY…
‘Give Celtic a Director of Football, Mr Lawwell and Neil Lennon will deliver,’ Niall J…see HERE.
‘Spooked us from the beginning,’ Rangers fans grudging admiration for how Celtic Kicked-off Beautiful Sunday…see HERE.
‘Appenin’ Bitton – Nir’s long overdue appreciation and why he deserves a new deal…see HERE.
Celtic’s Eventual Summer Transfer Window Reviewed – Board, Management, Players and Fans…see HERE.
