Ange Postecoglou on Mark Lawwell's 'cutting edge' and why he'll prove critics wrong too

The cool reception given by the Celtic support to the appointment of Mark Lawwell as the club’s head of recruitment this week has not perturbed Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian points out he knows a thing or two about such a response after how his own arrival as manager was received last June. And just as Postecoglou proving his own man and adept in his role won over any doubters so he is sure the same will be true for of a Lawwell he wanted on board from day one.

Lawwell hasn’t been welcomed with open arms by some among the fanbase because of the politics around his being the son of former chief executive Peter Lawwell, who became a divisive figure before stepping down last year. Postecoglou has no interest in any of that - and believes the club’s faithful will set such aside when they see the fruits of a man he says is at “the cutting edge” when it comes to player identification.

“That was one of the areas we definitely needed to bring somebody; to manage the whole department. I just wanted to get the right person. And for me, and for Celtic supporters, Mark - like myself who wasn’t a popular pick to start with – will get judged on the work he does. I’m sure they’ll be super pleased once he gets up and running.

“I worked with him really closely for nearly four years, with Yokahama as part of the City Group. We worked really well together. He understood me, how I want my teams to play football, and identified the right type of players for me and we had great success. So when I came across to Celtic, when talking about adding staff, he was one person I was really keen on bringing.

“City Group were pretty keen to hold on to him so I knew it wouldn’t be a simple task but I’m delighted. He’s going to be an outstanding asset for this club because in that space - that area of recruitment, the ability to scout the right kind of players and the analytics behind it - he has been at the cutting edge working for one of the best organisations in the world at identifying players. To bring that skillset to our club is brilliant.”