It looks as if Brendan Rodgers’ pursuit of the Aston Villa man Scott Sinclair will end, in success, this coming week.
That will give the club a timely lift ahead of the game with Lincoln Red Imps in the Champions League second qualifying round.
Sinclair is, of course, a winger when what we really need are players in central defence, but that’s perfectly alright as long as one of those – at least one – is getting brought to the club too. Sinclair is one of those players the manager knows well from his career in England, and he has the talent to be a huge hit in the Scottish league and will give us an extra option in Europe.
There are people not terribly keen on this guy, but Rodgers gave him the best years of his career thus far and knows what the player can do. He’s been signed by top, top clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City, and that you should reassure anyone worried that he’s got something special when he turns the dial up to full. It’s been a while since he was at a club where he was given a regular chance to do just that, a victim of a league where teams spend money and assemble squads seemingly just to do it.
Last season he was part of one of the worst sides in Premiership history, and he plays in a position where he can’t be held accountable for the epic scale of their failure. He’s in need of a fresh start, a boss who knows his talents and wants to put it to good use and a club where he’ll be a fans favourite in no time at all if he can pull his stuff together.
This would be an exciting signing, and the player himself would need to take a substantial wage cut to make it happen but that, too, will be a sign that he’s fully engaged and keen to kick-start his career again. If he does, if he is, then I’m sure he’ll be an excellent asset.
Now onto the defenders … and rumours persist that Joe Flanagan might be joining us. He’s a very good player indeed, playing on either the left or the right of the defence, a position we badly need to fill. We’ve also been linked with Chris Gunter, who plays in the same role, so there’s clearly felt to be a pressing need to get someone in there.
Central defence is where the real priorities lie though, and yesterday’s moment of OMG when Erik Sviatchenko went down injured ought to have been the moment where the scales fell from everyone’s eyes and even our penny pinching board guys realised that something has to be done in that area before Ambrose ends up our number one pick.
Can you imagine anything more ridiculous?
This is something that simply won’t wait. If there are targets who’ve been identified – and there are two that we know of for a fact – they should be brought in without further hesitation. The path to the Group Stages of the Europa League is wide open. Navigating the road to the Champions League Groups might also prove to be within our grasp.
No-one at Celtic can afford for us to screw that up. Reinforcements are needed, and badly. Everyone knows what needs to be done. Sinclair will be a step forward, but bringing in either Duffy or Toure is more important, by far, at the moment.
Let’s see what the week brings, friends.