Celtic’s new sporting director should be responsible for the club’s long-term philosophy, not a hire made by the club’s next manager, according to former defender Andreas Hinkel.

Hinkel, who was a coach at Stuttgart for six years before becoming Spartak Moscow’s assistant manager in October 2019, is well versed in how modern clubs use the continental sporting director role to great effect. 

Prior to leaving his boyhood club a few years ago, Hinkel was part of a rebuild at Stuttgart that saw former Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal head scout Sven Mislintat take charge of the club’s transfer and scouting plans as the new sporting director. 

Mislintat quickly turned the struggling second-tier side into a team bulging with exciting, young players, coached by former Hoffenheim assistant manager Pellegrino Matarazzo. The Swabian side quickly won promotion and are now on the cusp of qualifying for Europe in their first season back in the Bundesliga. 

Like Stuttgart, Celtic are in desperate need of someone with the expertise to reassess the club’s scouting and transfer activity and make it better fit for purpose. And Hinkel believes that can be filled by a proper sporting director, who can ensure long-term plans
are fulfilled, rather than bringing in someone that will be at the beck and call of the next manager.

“I think the club itself has to have a philosophy,” explained Hinkel. “So then they have to search and see if the coaches fit into their philosophy. 

“Coaches can still express themselves and speak about players, but in this instance the club is deciding who they are going to sign and they can take a bigger view of the youth teams as well, to instil a wider philosophy. 

“First of all, you have to ask what type of club you are. Are you beneath the big clubs and they buy your players off you all the time?

“What is your position? Where are you scouting for new players? How can you develop your players and your club? 

“You always have smaller teams and you always have bigger teams. Celtic are like Stuttgart. If you are Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Juventus, etc. then you are different and at the very top, at the end of the process.”

Aside from poor performances on the pitch, Celtic fans have grown increasingly impatient with the club’s plans off it too. 

Key positions weren’t strengthened last summer, youth players have struggled to break into the first team and a number of key players will now enter the final year of their contract at the end of this season. 

And while Hinkel is unsure if a sporting director can single-handedly fix all of Celtic’s off-the-field problems, he believes the German model offers the kind of stability and long-term planning that the Scottish club have missed for some time. 

“Yeah, I don’t know if it would work better but it’s a philosophy that is built around having a plan,” said Hinkel. “I think it is logical. It sounds logical to me for the long-term to have this structure at the club. 

“For the long-term plans it is always good to have someone that is always there and knows the players, knows the philosophy and identity and has plans for constantly improving the club.”