Last month, before the transfer deadline, I reported on this site about how Celtic had sent scouts to watch a match in Portugal, a match involving Benfica.
Last night, we sent our scouting team back to watch them, this time in a Champions League clash with Besiktas.
It’s unclear who our scouts were watching, and it might not even have been a Benfica player, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they’ve watched the same club twice in a month, or that last night was a Champions League game, the very level where we need to be improving.
Last night’s beating was against the best side ever, of course. There is literally no signing we could have made who would have made a difference out there. There would still have been a gulf and it would still have been a big one. We need fresh blood in that team and in particular a defensive midfield player who has a bit of graft and dig and who could have cut off some of the supply to their rampant forwards. We won’t improve beyond a certain level until he’s signed.
Clearly, even without that result last night, the work at Celtic goes on. Players are being watched and moves are being planned as Brendan tries to assemble the team we require to make sure we’re better equipped for a tie like last night.
Should one of those players have been brought in sooner?
Of course. I said so when the window shut, that the board had sold Brendan short, but I also realise that it’s better to bring in the right people, rather than filling the team with dross.
We’ve already seen one team in Glasgow do that this season, and they paid the penalty for it against us on Saturday. Ronny signed over 20 players in two seasons. Few of them will still be at Celtic Park this time next year. That’s one of the areas where Brendan has improved things already and although some have already made up their minds (after a handful of games, my God) about De Vries and even Gamboa I’m not writing off either.
Work still has to be done. That work is being done. Our scouts weren’t on holiday last night, they were looking for ways to improve us. I don’t think the board is stupid enough to deprive Brendan Rodgers of money in January, because they too want, and need, us to be back on this stage next season.
Whoever we were watching, it’s a welcome sign of life and a reminder that at a club like ours, the process of improvement is ongoing and permanent, as it should be.