Brendan Rodgers, speaking after the game tonight, has told the Celtic fans that he expects to make signings before the window shuts. He’s talked about players who “can bring creativity.” Which indicates that we’re looking in the attacking midfield / wing area. Which means that we’re not looking at all at the central defence.
This is scarcely believable, but it appears to be the case. Brendan is happy with the defence as it stands, the defence we’ve lost a player from. The defence which has signed a guy who can’t play in Europe. The one that includes Simunovic, Boyata and Lustig. There are significant doubts about all three of them. That news is genuinely scary.
Why is this Brendan’s weak spot? Why does he not see what the rest of us do? If we don’t make a central defensive signing in this window does Brendan know that fans will hold him responsible for anything that goes wrong in that area? We cannot blame limited players for their limitations. We can certainly blame the manager for not addressing them.
We do need another creative player. That’s just a fact. Brendan is a manager who believes that games are won by goals, and one of the crucial problems we had in the Champions League wasn’t just that we were all over the place at the back … we didn’t look dangerous enough going forward. We didn’t test the top teams and if you want to win things that’s a must.
So I understand why he wants creativity. I get it. And in Scotland, at least, it should be good enough to secure the treble for us.
The worry is Europe. The worry is Zenit and what happens in the summer if Brendan insists on sticking with what we’ve got. There’s no way that back line is good enough to take us into the Champions League next season. The flaws are obvious. Teams will exploit them ruthlessly. Had we addressed them in this window we’d have been ready and could have relaxed over the summer. If we ignore these problems until then it’s going to be a sweat.
I am glad to hear that there’s still business to be done. It will save me writing an article which flames the club and those above the manager’s head. But I cannot believe that we will not further address the central defence. I can only assume that Brendan is working on something in that area and does not want to give a hostage to fortune.
He has to see what the rest of us do.
We’ll see where we are when in 11 days, but I expect ins and outs by the time we arrive there.