Chris Sutton has provided a brutal no holding back verdict on Celtic’s Head of Football Operations Nick Hammond.
Hammond has overseen a mess of a summer transfer window last year in which only one player has made a noticeable impact. The likes of £5million was splashed out on Albian Ajeti. £4.5m on Vasilis Barkas. Shane Duffy’s loan also cost a reported £2m. None have made any positive impact.
With such a huge outlay being wasted in the summer, question marks have arisen as to whether Hammond should be in charge of recruitment this year.
And it’s clear Sutton has his mind made up. He questioned Hammond’s ability in the role and went as far as to say he can’t be trusted with another window.
Speaking on the Daily Record’s Record Celtic Podcast, Sutton said: “How can there be trust in Nicky Hammond? So you sell Edouard, Christie, Ajer and you get £30 or £40million, who are you going to get in at the level to reach the Champions League group stage?
“Hammond’s track record has, frankly, been woeful. There’s been talk of a sporting director coming in. Celtic need to get a sporting director in immediately if they want to move forward and actually challenge Rangers next season. We are talking about Celtic losing Edouard, Christie and Ajer. That’s over a quarter of the team and possibly the three biggest players, although you chuck Callum McGregor in there and maybe Scott Brown at times.
“How are Celtic going to go about replacing them for the title challenge and also to get through the Champions League qualifiers? Is there trust in the scouting department based on Vasilis Barkas and Albian Ajeti signings?”
Celtic’s Nick Hammond looks a likely victim of any Parkhead rebuild
With so much talk of a Director of Football doing the rounds, you have to wonder where this leaves Hammond.
The Daily Mail reported this week that Celtic have engaged with recruitment firm Nolan Partners to provide a list of appropriate candidates for the role. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that massive change is coming to Celtic before next season.
If a Director of Football comes in, Hammond can’t stay. As Head of Football Operations, his responsibilities would directly clash with that of a Director of Football. In other words, there would be too many cooks in the kitchen.
Even if we didn’t go down that route, any new manager would want his own man in. His own recruitment chief who he trusts and can rely upon to get him to identify the players he needs. This is a massive part of the rebuilding process at Celtic – the recruitment side.
Personally, I don’t believe Hammond necessarily identified poor footballers. There’s a reason the likes of Barkas, Ajeti, and Duffy have been successful in the past. They’re not bad players. But for one reason or another, they haven’t worked out this season in a Celtic jersey.
But given the sheer demand for change in Glasgow’s East End, it’s difficult to see a pathway for Hammond to be a part of that.
In other news, this Celtic loanee has continued his fine form away from Parkhead last night.
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