Today I expect Celtic to sign someone.
Brendan Rodgers said last night that he knows we need reinforcements before the next Champions League qualifier; that means at least one of them has to be delivered by tonight.
Technically speaking, we can add one up to 24 hours before the game, but after the 11pm deadline tonight one is exactly all it’ll be. We need more than one. We need at least two, because the trip to Kazakhstan is going to be brutal.
Brendan Rodgers said last night that we were homing in on two signings.
He says if they don’t go through it will not be our club’s fault.
Frankly, I don’t believe that at all.
Of course it’s the fault of people at Celtic.
People inside the club know what the club’s we’re trying to buy from players value these players at. They either hammer out a deal, quick smart, or they move on to other targets. There’s less than twelve hours to go and some of these deals have been dragged out for months.
Brendan Rodgers is already acting as a human shield for those above him; I would caution him about doing so.
Those people threw Deila to the wolves. They won’t hesitate to sacrifice Rodgers if the alternative is that they pack up their own stuff and beat it. The manager has to be strong enough to demand what he needs and get it. It’s his reputation on the line.
Does he have allies in this?
Does Dermott Desmond think hiring him and then abandoning him is the right move?
Last night Celtic Park was nearly full. The fans have undoubtedly did their bit. The club is in as healthy a position as I can ever remember it. There’s no excuse for not giving the manager the backing he wants and deserves.
If promises were made to him about the budget they need to be honoured and kept.
Who are we? Sevco?
Who’s running things at Celtic Park? Dave King?
We have a seriously tough European tie here. If the manager had been backed properly, and the players he wanted already signed, there would be little cause for complaint if we didn’t make the Groups. People would put that down to a settling in period, to the manager getting used to things and trying to figure out his team.
But we all know, and so will he, from painful past experience, that this team simply isn’t good enough to get there. Without inclusions we will not make it. Failure to bring players in looks like neglect at best and at worst two fingers to every fan who bought a season ticket. The board sometimes treats us with utter contempt; this will be viewed as one of those occasions. The lack of forward progress with some of these deals is shocking.
I repeat, the manager has identified targets. When he does that the onus falls on other people to deliver the goods. To not do it is their failure and the blame lies with them. If we don’t bring in a player today fans will rightly conclude that this is a board that simply doesn’t give a damn about our prospects, or it’s one where some of those above the manager are resisting his ideas and simply not trying to bring in his players.
At the end of the day, these guys have got the season ticket money, on the back of a managerial appointment and the promise of a new era.
They had better damned well keep it.
There are less than twelve hours to go.