Celtic appointed Nicky Hammond as their new head of football operations.
Pundit and former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has told the Daily Record that he thinks Peter Lawwell making Nicky Hammond ‘head of football operations’ is an interesting move.
Celtic saw Lee Congerton quit over the summer, leaving to follow Brendan Rodgers to Leicester City having followed him to Celtic in the first place.
The pair worked at Chelsea together, so it was no surprise to see them reunite at Leicester, but it left Celtic needing to replace their head of recruitment.
In the end, Celtic landed Hammond on a temporary basis, bringing him in to help recruitment over the summer transfer window, who ironically worked with Rodgers at Reading.
Hammond helped oversee a decent summer window for Celtic, with the likes of Fraser Forster, Boli Bolingoli, Moritz Bauer, Christopher Jullien, Moritz Bauer, Hatem Abd Elhamed and Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Now, Celtic have confirmed the permanent appointment of Hammond, announcing him as their new ‘head of football operations’, having previously been technical director at West Bromwich Albion.
Sutton has highlighted that job title, feeling that it sounds like a much bigger role than predecessor Congerton had, feeling that he has a lot of work on his hands when it comes to clearing up Congerton’s mess.
Sutton finds the job title ‘interesting’, calling it ‘grand’ whilst suggesting it could be a sign that chief executive Peter Lawwell may be willing to take a step back and leave certain matters in the hands of Hammond, making the decision to give him that role fascinating.
“Going on titles alone, his predecessor Lee Congerton was head of recruitment but Hammond’s role sounds more far reaching,” said Sutton. “Let’s be honest, he has a lot of work to do to mop up the mess left behind by the last guy.”
“Hammond getting the gig permanently should give Celtic stability and it sounds like he has a good working relationship with Neil Lennon. The interesting thing is the grand title. It looks like he has been given a lot of power. It could be seen as a sign of Lawwell gradually taking a step back. I doubt he would let anyone else take the wheel but there’s not much point in just appointing a puppet. If the chief executive has liked what Hammond has suggested in terms of the structure of the club and the work he has done, then he has to have full trust in his new man to hand him the reins,” he added.
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