Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks here.
If we were playing in the preliminary round of the Champions League we’d now have seven days to register our first signings, but thankfully we’re not. We are a first round team, which means that the deadline for new players is 5 July. One big deal – that for Odsonne Edouard – will be completed in the next 24 hours.
Pre-season training starts next week. It shouldn’t take long for our players to get themselves ready for the games ahead. The first two rounds should be relatively straightforward. By the time the latter two come up we’ve have played four competitive games and a number of friendlies.
We’re going to be ready. There will no excuses.
There’s no real need to panic here though; as E-Tims pointed out the other day there are actually a slew of dates in relation to the eight games that will get us there or not, and the registration periods are spread out across two months accordingly. The first is 21 June, which is the one that doesn’t apply to us. The next is 5 July, and although it would be good to have new players at the club by then the only problem I could foresee is if we missed the next one, on 19 July.
Because after that we’re looking at two vital windows; 2 August and finally 19 August. If we’re not ready for those we’re asking for trouble because they’re the deciders, they are going to be the difficult games to edge through. Get through the first one, and we are guaranteed European Group Stage football, which we simply must have.
Get through the second and oh, how the money will pour in.
The importance of these deadlines can barely be over-stated. We need to be ready for them, and based on the news coming out of Celtic today, about the Odsonne deal almost being over the line, it sure sounds like we’re going to be.