There is no hiding from the fact that Celtic will need to change things from top to bottom if they are to turn things around and challenge for the Scottish title once again when next season rolls around.
It is a massive task to be honest. They are expected to appoint a new manager, a lot of players are set to leave and Peter Lawwell will also be stepping down from his role, which he has held for 17 years.
In many ways, it will be a transition season. One that they could have afforded to go trophyless in if they had secured 10IAR this time around. Now that they have not, the pressure will be on to get back to the top. And thus, they will have to build a new team and win at the same time, which is no easy task.
There have been some exciting rumours regarding the changes coming at Celtic though, with the main one surrounding the club hiring a sporting director. And it looks like there is some substance to those rumours after all, as confirmed by Sky Sports‘ Anthony Joseph:
Celtic are looking to appoint a sporting director among plans to modernise their football department.
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) February 25, 2021
David Webb, Fergal Harkin & Matteo Tognozzi are three names being considered.
Restructuring plans will include input from incoming CEO Dominic McKay.
(w/@SkySportsLyall)
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Celtic will look to appoint a sporting director
The role of a sporting director has grown in prominence in modern football over the past several years. His role is generally to act as a bridge between a manager and the chief executive of a club, although this can vary from club to club. The three main names linked with Celtic in this regard are David Webb, Fergal Harkin and Matteo Tognozzi.
Webb has worked with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Huddersfield Town and interestingly, Bournemouth in the past, with the Hoops also being linked with Eddie Howe.
Harkin is with Manchester City at the moment as their football partnership’s manager who deals with the club’s players away on loan.
Finally, Tognozzi is the chief scout at Juventus. And he has been linked with taking a director of football role at Manchester United recently as well.
In all the three candidates, we see that they have a deep knowledge of different transfer markets, which might be an area Celtic are most desperate to improve at after their recruitment failures in recent seasons.