Mystery Surrounding Celtic’s Silent Man as Transfer Deadline Looms

The frustration from the Celtic support when it comes to recruitment is there for all to see. Lee Congerton was lambasted for his weak stewardship of Celtic’s scouting system to the point there were celebrations when he left to join Brendan Rodgers.

His departure didn’t come out of the blue and many felt the man who was appointed head scout by Brendan would ultimately head down the road. Try getting anyone at Celtic to admit that though! If they did, they would be open to questions as to why Celtic only recruited a summer intern for the ‘clubs recruitment’.

Nicky Hammond, Celtic’s silent man, was brought to the club in July on a short term summer deal to help with the club’s ongoing recruitment process. Since the scout has come in, we have seen Hatem Elhamed come in and Fraser Forster on loan. Two good signings on the face of it, but how much did the man himself have to do with it. Hatem comes from an agent who is very friendly with Neil Lennon and Fraser Forster was part of the Irishman’s first Celtic stint as manager.

The clubs official line was Hammond was on their radar for some time and they were looking forward to working with him as per the website statement.

Now, we’re hearing from the likes of RecordSport that the scout’s role has changed as they described what Hammond has actually been up to.

“Transfer specialist Nicky Hammond is currently conducting a review of the club’s recruitment policy following the departure of Lee Congerton.” 

So is he doing both, one or the other?

It’s about time Celtic’s recruitment process was put under the spotlight. However, as we plan for the future, the here and now concern most Celtic fans.

We would be astounded if there were no signings before Monday but the quality of those signings will be up for debate. Last year we saw Yousouff Mulumbu come in as a panic buy and shirt filler when the club were stuck for a signing. If we see something along those lines again, the Celtic fans will be rightly upset.