Recruitment guru tipped by Ange to help unearth top talent

CELTIC manager Ange Postecoglou h a s b a c k e d P a r k h e a d recruitment guru Mark Lawwell to leave no stone unturned in the search for January signings who can boost their Scot t i s h t i t le challenge.

The defending champions are in a commanding position in the cinch Premiership after moving nine points clear of nearest challengers Rangers in the table on Saturday with a 2- 1 win over Ross County at home.

However, Postecoglou, who has enjoyed great success in the transfer market since arriving in this country last year, has stressed that work will continue behind the scenes identifying potential signings during the World Cup break.

He expressed confidence that Lawwell, who was appointed head of first team scouting and recruitment at Celtic in July after spending 10 years at Manchester City, and his staff will be able to identify more outstanding targets.

“You need to have good people around you and a good scouting network and a good recruiting area which we have now with Mark Lawwell,” he said. “They do all that work in terms of gathering information and then we make that decision.

“Every decision I make, I try and flood myself with as much information as possible. What I am good at is sifting out what is useful and what is not, but I have always relied on information.

“Ultimately, it comes down to a judgement because you could have three players and there is not much difference between them in terms of qualities and then it comes down to my experience and my judgement.

“But before we get to that stage information for me is everything and not just around transfers, but every decision I make.

“When I start a starting XI people make their judgements, but they have a tenth of the information I have when I make that decision. Maybe if they had all the information I had then they would come to the same conclusion.”