Celtic fans, they are a wonder of the world.
The Champions League clash with Rosenborg is sold out.
Strips are flying out of shops as quickly as the stockists can keep up with them.
Our club is sitting on a pile of money that would have Scrooge McDuck grinning.
And the Brains Trust who are in charge of our signing policy has left us weaker than this time last year.
I sound like a broken record on this, right? Well forgive me for that, but getting up in the morning to find out we’ve improved our John McGinn offer by a such a minor sum – £250,000 – that it wouldn’t get Rod Petrie to even come to the phone irks me somewhat.
For me, we should leave the McGinn thing alone now and pick him up on a free. But increasing the offer in tiny increments like someone slowly pulling out straws in Kerplunk doesn’t sound to me like we’re serious about getting much transfer business done. It sounds like people dragging their feet. It sounds like people who are going through the motions.
The longer we wait to make signings the more chance there is of a calamitous Champions League exit. If that happens, with us having made a loan deal permanent and having seen Armstrong and Roberts depart without being replaced, there will be fury. It’s bubbling away already, as low-level frustration. Fans are backing the team … but those who run the club behind the scenes should not assume that means it is backing them.
The so-called “transfer policy” of this summer has been a joke thus far and I’m going to keep on writing that until the situation changes. It is not unreasonable to assume that the manager would have been backed by now. In fact, it’s plain old common sense. These qualifiers are of immense significance to us and to the club.
Taking risks with them is just plain wrong.
Our continued pursuit of McGinn suggests, strongly, that there’s no Plan B for that position and if that’s the case then our scouting system isn’t worth a damn, is it? Are we really waiting on selling a central defender before we buy one? Are we going to wait until Kieran Tierney is injured before we realise he’s the only natural left back at the club?
Our team looks solid at the moment. The football in the pre-season and in the first two European games is transformed. The new playing systems look as if they pay sterling dividends. But it’s a long campaign and this team needs freshening up. A couple of good signings is all we’re looking for … not a ten player rebuild job.
It would make all the difference. It would put us on course for the treble treble.
Get the finger out Celtic.
The fans are doing their bit like never before.
It’s other people who are not getting the job done.