After McElhone; the Celtic staff additions club need to look at

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Anton McElhone came to join the Celtic staff this week, a Head of Sports Science with a fantastic pedigree.

McElhone has worked with everyone from Mauricio Pochettino to David Hopkin [GMFC], via Tony Mowbray. And with each manager, plaudits came his way. A smart hire to replace Jack Nayler, the new Fitness guru has the CV to succeed at Celtic.

But that can’t be it, can it? No; the Celtic boss has stressed the need to build up the team around him. With the summer transfer window over, it’s time to focus on who can mould the players into a successful unit.

But what else do Celtic need in their quest to return to the summit of Scottish football?

A Head of Recruitment to replace Nick Hammond

Remember when Nick Hammond left the club? That was a very strange time. It was truly in the midst of the worst part of last season, when things looked hopeless on the pitch, and big-name employees were leaving off it.

Yet, as we saw with Dermot Desmond’s involvement with transfers this summer, the old sign-by-committee approach has been stretched to its limit.

If Postecoglou is going to be able to build a consistently successful side, it can’t be just on him, the majority shareholder and… well, who knows?

Fine, he’s admitted he’s a bit of a control freak. However, that doesn’t mean it should be totally incumbent on him to find, negotiate with, and sign off on every player that comes in.

Someone coming in to – theoretically – make the process easier would be ideal before we think about the January window.

At least one staff member of Celtic manager Postecoglou’s choosing

There are countless coaches in the game who would do anything to work at Celtic, or to work with Ange Postecoglou. Or, indeed, both.

Yet, we haven’t seen any significant movement beyond the new manager. Stephen McManus has been drafted into the first-team fold, while Gavin Strachan came last season.

It’s more than a bit strange that there isn’t at least one of Postecoglou’s own choices in the dugout. Having to essentially adapt to a new life and new club by himself has to have been considerably difficult. Tactically, too, there’s plenty of reason for Postecoglou to want one of his own guys in.

Surely, there’ll be at least one new face in the technical area before January rolls around.

New names in Celtic scouting and analysis department staff

Funnily enough, Celtic were advertising for a First Team Recruitment Analyst in the summer. In the job specification, it was heavily implied that they’d be answering to Jay Lefevre, who scouted for Arsenal under Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta.

That suggests there’s surely plans afoot to expand the data analysis and scouting reach at the club. And, again, it’d be useful to have Postecoglou’s input here.

Having some voices from Japan or Australia would surely help the club further tap into markets we’ve barely looked at. Kyogo might be an anomaly, or more realistically, there’s loads of J-League talent who would do a fine job at Celtic.

Undoubtedly, Postecoglou will have worked with analysts and particular scouts who know his way of playing the game. Maybe the club have already brought some in, but you wouldn’t know.

In terms of researching opposition, Peter Houston is the man in charge, or so it seems. And he’s doing just fine, but the importance of an expansive, knowledgable team around him really isn’t stated enough.

Read more: Ange Postecoglou right to ignore noise about Celtic rebuild