Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton says it is “fashionable” to criticise the club’s Head of Scouting and Recruitment, Mark Lawwell, but has pointed out the club’s signing policy has been hugely beneficial in recent years.
Throughout the week, manager Brendan Rodgers spoke a lot about transfer activity at the Bhoys – first at the AGM, then in follow-up media interviews.
The Celtic boss made it clearer than ever that he has the final say on incoming signings, then spoke in depth about the process of recruiting players to his first-team squad.
And Sutton reckons that critics of the club’s approach can’t have it both ways – celebrating the success of ‘projects’ paying off in the market while lambasting the general approach when others don’t quite work out.
Chris Sutton on Celtic’s transfer policy
Writing in his Daily Record column today, the former striker said: “The problem is not signing prospects – it’s about signing the right prospects. A lot is made of the ones who didn’t make it but there are plenty who have. During Rodgers’ first reign, he rubber-stamped deals for the likes of Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair, who were huge success stories. There were others – like the lesser spotted Compper – who were not quite as successful but by that stage, it was recruitment chief Lee Congerton who was copping much of the flak.
“You can’t have it both ways. It was similar with Postecoglou. He used his knowledge of the Japanese market to land Kyogo, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda. But Celtic also scouted Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota, Josip Juranovic, Alistair Johnston and so on. Postecoglou took ownership of all of them and Rodgers is now doing the same.
“It’s fashionable among some fans to have a go at Mark Lawwell as they will go against any Lawwell being involved. But this is the same Mark Lawwell who was either directly or indirectly involved in a lot of transfer activity over the years – including the recruitment of Postecoglou himself.
“Signing players involves a lot of different people but it’s the manager who carries the can. With fans, whether they are any good can be black or white. But at least now there are no grey areas over who is in charge.”
I suppose the point for many is that Celtic have to find a balance between bringing in young, hungry players who improve over time and bringing in players who can immediately improve the first team.
For some, that tipped too far in one direction over the summer months. Rodgers himself has admitted he will now not be bringing in players unless they directly improve his team.
It looks like some of the summer recruits could well be big stars or the Bhoys anyway. Luis Palma in particular is showing promise, as is Hyunjun Yang.
The Celtic boss has again reiterated that he is happy with how the process is working, so hopefully the talk of division and rifts internally at the club will now subside.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers changes up Celtic January plans for “more beneficial” alternative.
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