GLASGOW SCOTLAND - MAY 20: Dermot Desmond is seen prior to the Celtic vs St Mirren Cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park on May 20, 2023 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
A minor policy shift hinted at by Brendan Rodgers should result in more cohesive hiring practices for Celtics.
Since the Irishman rejoined the team in June of last year, no topic has attracted as much attention or discussion as transfer plans and methods.
As the summer transfer window drew to a close, Rodgers was determined that, in his capacity as manager and coach, his job was to work with the players the club provided him. At first, he lauded Mark Lawwell for his outstanding effort.
By the time that Celtic went out of the Champions League to Lazio the manager disclosed that his initial squad assessment was that four quality additions were required.
It is safe to assume that with minimal Champions League involvement and players like Marco Tilio, Maik Nawrocki and Kwon Hyeok-kyu failing to even make the squad that the quality threshold hadn’t been met.
Following another poor transfer window in January Celtic announced on March 1 that Mark Lawwell and Joe Dudgeon were leaving the club but since then there has been no comment about what the reshaped Scouting and Recruitment Department will look like.
At yesterday’s all-in media conference Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail asked Rodgers about his involvement in future recruitment.
Brendan, the team wants to change the way they recruit and scout. Are you a part of that and, despite being engrossed in the season, are you able to think ahead?
Yes, without a doubt. Of course, I participate in that process. Whenever you wish to stay here for a longer period of time, you are constantly considering the short, medium, and long terms. I would adore the chance to influence that. I’ve played the game for a long time.
Since the game is always evolving, I would like to try to provide more of our younger players with opportunities here.
We need to take a greater focus on our loan players. We’ll have someone in a role that comes in and works specifically on that and working with those young players and others that are out on loan and helping that pathway into the first-team be clearer. I’m very much a part of that.
