Neil Lennon admits 'void' in Celtic recruitment system

By John McGinley

August 22, 2019

Celtic manager Neil Lennon has admitted there is a ‘void’ in the Hoops’ recruitment process since Lee Congerton left the club, The Scottish Sun report.

It was announced in May that Congerton would be making the switch to Leicester City to join up with Brendan Rodgers, close to three months after our former manager left.

Heading into one of our most crucial transfer windows in a number of years, we were left without a designated ‘Head of Recruitment’.

In late June, it was then announced former West Brom man Nick Hammond would be appointed on a short-term basis to help with securing our big transfer targets, just a few weeks before summer qualifiers began.

Lennon though admits there are still issues.

Now, the club are waiting on a report from Hammond that will begin to address them.

As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the Celtic manager said this week: “Nick’s going to write up a report and we’ll take it from there.

“At the minute, there’s a bit of a void in the recruitment system since Lee Congerton left.

“But again, we’re over-analysing the recruitment side of things. Some of it has worked, some of it hasn’t.”

(Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Why should fans worry?

We’re less than two weeks away from the end of the summer transfer window and we haven’t exactly been quick in signing players so far, with a number of big issues in the first-team still needing to be solved.

That there remains a ‘void’ in our recruitment more than three months after Congerton’s departure doesn’t exactly paint a picture of confidence for supporters that we can do the business required.

Issues in our recruitment process should have been uncovered well before now. The lack of planning at the club is one of the fundamental reasons we won’t be enjoying UEFA Champions League football this season.

It seems we’re still suffering the after-effects of Brendan Rodgers and much of his staff walking out on the club in February, a full six months after the event.

With communication from the club cryptic at best, we can only hope that there is enough going on behind the scenes to scrape through this transfer window as an improved outfit.