Mark Lawwell HAD to fall on Celtic sword declares Chris Sutton before insisting he is not the only one to blame

Chris Sutton insists Mark Lawwell had to fall on his sword for failure in the last two transfer windows.

Parkhead bosses have announced recruitment chief Lawwell – son of chairman Peter – had resigned along with lead scout Joe Dudgeon with the pair leaving to ‘pursue fresh challenges’. But Record Sport columnist Sutty believes the pair have carried the can for blunders in the transfer market that have left Celts playing catch up in the title race going into the home straight.

He said: “There were questions over who was to blame for January – and the window last summer. Now it looks like we have the answer. Celtic might say Mark Lawwell is leaving to pursue other opportunities but it looks like he’s fallen on his sword. There was an inevitability about this after Peter Lawwell’s statement in the interim accounts. The chairman said the clubs shared the frustration about the lack of signings in the window when Brendan Rodgers had said he needed four quality recruits. The big question was why – and who was to blame? I think we now know.

Every Mark Lawwell Celtic signing rated as 21 transfers showcase the legacy for outgoing recruitment guru

“There should be a collective responsibility when it comes to transfers from the recruitment team to the manager. But clearly something wasn’t right – and it goes back to last summer. You look at the players coming in. Some of them clearly have not been fancied and that has put the spotlight on the recruitment team.”

Mark Lawwell joined the club in 2022 after being endorsed by former manager Ange Postecoglou, with the pair working together for the City Football Group in Japan. Sutton said: “By all accounts it was Mark Lawwell who had a hand in getting Postecoglou to Celtic in the