Tommy Johnson claims Celtic return was blocked after Lawwell talks, Lennon wanted him

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Celtic have been going through major changes to their recruitment side in recent times, but one move was seemingly kiboshed.

Nick Hammond came in to help recruitment in the summer of 2019, and Gary Penrice has since arrived as head of recruiment.

The Bhoys are now looking for a director of football, but Tommy Johnson has opened up on his return to the club being scrapped.

Johnson played for Celtic between 1997 and 2001, bagging 18 goals in 35 games for the Bhoys before leaving for Sheffield Wednesday.

Johnson has turned his hand to recruitment since retirement, and he is now head of recruitment at English League One side Blackpool.

When he was with Nottingham Forest in 2019 though, Johnson was targeted by Neil Lennon, with Scottish Daily Mail (back page, 28/08) the reporting that a Celtic return was on the cards.

Now, Johnson has told The Celtic Huddle that he did speak to Peter Lawwell twice about returning to the club, but the move was scrapped by Celtic decision makers.

Johnson noted that he wasn’t going for the same job as Hammond, but would have been a close ally to Lennon, with Johnson finding it ‘astounding’ that Lennon hasn’t been allowed to bring his own men in to Parkhead.

“There’s been rumours, haven’t there?” said Johnson. “I did actually go up and meet Peter Lawwell twice when Lenny wanted to bring us [me] in last year. But the powers that be made the decision not to, shall I say.”

“Everybody knows once you have played for Celtic how much it means to you and Neil has asked me to come in. Nick [Hammond] was in the process of coming in full time and I think a couple of weeks later he was appointed. I was all for coming up and helping Neil in any which way I can but it didn’t materialise.”

“Nick got the job – not that I was going for that job anyway – but I think Lenny wanted us [me] in to help out with the recruitment and to be someone around that he could speak to. No disrespect to Gavin Strachan who has come in, John Kennedy and the rest of the guys who have come in. But as a manager I think you need someone who you can actually talk to on a personal basis as well, and Neil hasn’t brought anybody in on his own since he has been at the club, which is quite astounding – when you look back at Brendan Rodgers, and the amount of staff which Brendan brought to the club, which is right,” he added.