Nick Hammond's departure a huge step towards Celtic rebuild; fan excitement growing

By David Walton

March 31, 2021

Nick Hammond’s Celtic departure was announced today in what’s a key step towards this summer’s rebuilding process.

Hammond came into the club back in the summer of 2019 on a temporary basis to help the Hoops with their recruitment. Several months later and after a relatively successful window, he was appointed the permanent Head of Football Operations.

This led to the Englishman being the main man with regards to the club’s recruitment strategy. Since then, it’s gone downhill rapidly.

Hammond has been hammered for some dreadful signings provided to Neil Lennon. Albian Ajeti cost a reported £5million in the summer [Sky Sports]. Vasilis Barkas, meanwhile, a reported £4.5m [Scottish Sun]. The failure of both players to impress has reflected extremely poorly on the former West Brom technical director. We won’t even go into the Shane Duffy disaster.

In addition to that, he’s seen some poor project signings too. Patryk Klimala has failed to make any sort of impact since arriving in January 2020. Jonjoe Kenny is another who’s failed to impress since his arrival several months ago.

Too much money for little return; Nick Hammond’s Celtic departure was inevitable

At the end of the day, too much money has been spent on signings that haven’t provided the club with enough. This was a departure that always looked certain after Neil Lennon left.

Hammond hasn’t shown an astuteness when it comes to transfers. Therefore, if player identification wasn’t proving to be his strong suit, it was always a major question as to what else he would be worth having around for.

Nick Hammond at a Celtic match / (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Celtic provided an incredibly weak level of clarity on everything Hammond was responsible for. But with recruitment being his main remit, he’s failed to impress an infuriated Hoops support.

His departure now leaves the gap open for a Director of Football to come in. With Hammond gone, it takes away a major piece of the Lennon regime. It opens the door for major change and has instantly excited the Celtic support, who can now sense real revolution on the cards.

Here’s a look at the reaction to Hammond’s departure from the Celtic supporters on Twitter:

In other news, read our report on Nick Hammond’s departure.