Celtic has announced the resignations of lead first-team scout Joe Dudgeon and head of first-team scouting and recruitment Mark Lawwell from the squad.

It has been confirmed by the Hoops that Lawwell and Dudgeon “will be on a period of gardening leave” and will be leaving the team to “pursue fresh challenges”.

Lawwell, the son of Celtic chairman Peter Lawwell, joined Parkhead in the summer of 2022 after working closely with former Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou at City Football Group (CFG) during his tenure at Yokohama F Marinos.

A few months after Lawwell, Dudgeon—who had previously played for Hull City and Manchester United—joined Celtic. The two had already established a close working rapport at CFG.

But Lawwell and Dudgeon leave Celtic at a time when fans have been critical of the team’s recruitment efforts in light of recent transfer activity.

Following the end of the January transfer window, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers declared that the team will need to be “braver” in their future hiring.

Lawwell and Dudgeon worked hard at Parkhead, and Rodgers has acknowledged their contributions, saying on the team website: “As part of the club’s recruitment team, Mark and Joe have worked tirelessly to bring success to Celtic, and I would like to wish them both the very best for the future.”

“Everyone at Celtic thanks Mark and Joe for their contribution and dedication to the club, and we wish them both every success going forward,” Chief Executive Michael Nicholson continued.

As head of first-team scouting and recruitment at Celtic, Lawwell oversaw a total of 21 incomings over the course of four transfer windows. The most notable signings were Portuguese winger Jota, who is currently at Al Ittihad, American defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Daizen Maeda in the summer of 2022.

Last summer, Celtic spent just under £20 million on eight permanent acquisitions. Of that amount, about half went toward winger Luis Palma and center-back Maik Nawrocki. In January, the club only added two players: attackers Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn, the latter of whom came on loan from Norwich City and the former for about £3 million.

The Hoops are now second in the Scottish Premiership standings. If they defeat Motherwell on Saturday, they might fall five points short of league leaders Rangers. On Sunday, Rodgers’ team travels to Hearts.

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