ANGE POSTECOGLOU has welcomed the appointment of Mark Lawwell as Celtic’s Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment.
The Hoops boss and the latest backroom recruit have worked together in the past when the Greek-Australian gaffer was in charge at J-League outfit Yokohama F Marinos.
Lawwell has spent the last 10 years within the City Football Group’s global structure and will join up as Postecoglou prepares to strengthen his squad for his second season at Parkhead.
The Hoops gaffer, who has been involved in SEVENTEEN player purchases since he was named as Neil Lennon’s long-term successor last June, said: “I was very keen for Mark to join the club and clearly I am delighted that he has accepted this important role and that we have been able to bring him to Celtic.
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS…Ange Postecoglou is already planning for the future.
“Mark is someone who I worked closely with throughout my four years at Marinos, through which time we developed great trust and an excellent working relationship.
“He knows the way I like to work, the way my teams play and the particular player profile which this requires.”
Postecoglou, speaking to the club website, added: “I know he will be a great addition to our team, leading our first-team scouting and recruitment function and delivering on our key objective of identifying and bringing exciting, talented players to the club
“We have a great team of people at the club and since joining Celtic I have been hugely impressed by the staff around me who have all worked so hard to deliver success.
“I have said before that I didn’t want to make changes just for the sake of it, but we always aim to build and develop everything we do and in bringing Mark in I know we have made an appointment which will be hugely beneficial for us moving forward.”
GREAT BUY…Kyogo Furihashi hit the ground running after his £4.6million arrival from the J-League.
Postecoglou was involved in a whirlwind of transfer activity in the summer when he was forced to revamp his squad with the likes of skipper Scott Brown, top scorer Odsonne Edouard and internationals Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie heading for the exit.
The new man didn’t waste any time as he brought in the likes of Japanese international striker Kyogo Furuhashi from Vissel Kobe, Swedish central defender Carl Starfelt from Russian outfit Rubin Kazan, full-back Josip Juranovic from Legia Warsaw, Greek hitman Giorgos Giakoumakis from Dutch minnows VVV-Venlo while arranging loan switches for Filipe Jota from Benfica and Cameron Carter-Vickers from Spurs.
He will have a bit more time this time around assess fresh talent and Lawwel has shown he is up to the task.
Exciting times are ahead.
