Celtic set to revamp recruitment for Lennon

NEIL LENNON has revealed Celtic are currently undergoing a revamp of their scouting and recruitment system in the wake of supporter criticism about the club’s recent record in transfers.

The disaster of Tuesday night’s Champions League exit to FC Cluj of Romania sparked fierce criticism over the lack of quality signings made in recent seasons, despite the record for transfer fees received being broken three times in the past four years.

Celtic are cash rich, with an estimated £40million-plus in the bank, but this is the third season in a row when they have lost in the qualifiers to a club with far less resources.

Lennon claimed the club had been in a void since the much-criticised former head of recruitment, Lee Congerton, left in May and the appointment a month later of Nick Hammond who for the moment has taken the role on a temporary basis.

However, the Celtic manager moved to calm the fears of fans and insisted work was going on behind the scenes to improve this aspect of the club.

Lennon said: “We do have a rebuilding job on the recruitment side – there is no question of that. We are trying to do that and Nick is working to rebuilt the recruitment department.

“Lee left in the summer and that created a void. Nick will hopefully be in permanently and hopefully he can build his own ideas there. That’s what we are looking for him to do.

“It’s been difficult with so much change and that’s the part the public don’t see. We are working really hard in the background.”

Chief executive Peter Lawwell has been the focus of much of the criticism, the perception being that he and the board’s refusal to spend more on new signings has left Lennon with an inferior team compared to the one Brendan Rodgers had in his first season.

Lennon said: “I don’t know about how much money we’ve got.

“You can analyse it to death but we had enough to get through but we didn’t. We have to look at ourselves and be united.

“The board have been brilliant with me. The players are hurting but they are hungry to bounce back.

“We all wanted the Champions League. I wanted it. I’ve been there before, I’ve been through the groups, I know what it means as a manager to perform at that level.

“But we have to accept it’s not going to be this year. We will see where the Europa League takes us and it’s a big domestic campaign. Yes, it’s a bitter blow because I wanted it as much as anyone, but we’ll get over it.”

Lennon has not escaped the supporters’ ire. His decision to drop Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo, a £3m summer signing, and replace him at left-back with central midfielder Callum McGregor has been blamed in some quarters for what was a shock European defeat.

He said: “It’s expectation. I’ve lived with it for a long, long time. It’s going out of the Champions League that hurts everyone because of the