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Another Day On The Transfer Merry-Go-Round As Our European Fate Is Decided.

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Tonight there was a cracking game in Stockholm. I say that for those who may be under the mistaken belief that it was in Copenhagen (haha Mr Forrest!) or those who think that the transfer window is the only thing going on. The two are entwined.

I think whatever’s going on behind the scenes depended, in no small part, on what happened this evening.

That we went through convincingly should be greeted with delight, not relief. It was a great display and if the board can do some deals then we may yet go into Sunday with the optimism that drives on a great performance. The other lot were rank tonight, they rode their luck and they know it.

Luck is a good thing to have, but it always runs out.

The transfer window show goes on, in tandem.

We’re linked with a Leicester winger on loan, the Greg Taylor story moves slowly but inexorably towards a conclusion which I reckon will see him at Celtic Park, there’s a story about us signing the Cluj striker who knocked us out of Europe a move for a young English prospect and one that’s clearly designed to put a chill in the air prior to kick off tonight, some nonsense about Odsonne Edouard being wanted by Lazio.

So let’s do them one at a time.

The story about the winger is probably broadly accurate, because we’ve also been linked with the move for Jordan Ibe for over a month. I said that story was clearly a board leak, designed to make it look like we had big exciting plans … not that Ibe exactly got the blood pumping.

I suspected that we’d go out and sign someone else in the same position and then do the shrug of the shoulders and “well, we tried …” bit. Predictable stuff.

The story about Taylor is what it is, and he’s a decent enough young player but neither he nor Bolingoli is anywhere near the footballer Tierney is, so we’re weaker in that position and no amount of board flannel is going to change, or hide, that fact.

Still, I would welcome the signing of Taylor as he’s a decent young Scottish talent and we will never have enough of those.

The Cluj story smells fishy, and not only because it only seems to have come from over there and a not terribly credible source.

It smells fishy because with Edouard, Griffiths and Bayo on the books – and Bayo looking like he may have something to offer – I don’t think we’re going to sign a striker in this window, and certainly not at that price.

The young English central defender – Mitchell Roberts – is a decent prospect, and he’s 18 so he’s clearly being signed as a first team backup and not just as a project player. I can live with that, and especially as we’re beating off stiff competition from down south.

The Dembele story sounds nonsensical, just another spook story to scare the kids.

It doesn’t matter anyway whether Lazio want to sign him or not, Celtic only has to say “not for sale” and that’s that, and frankly anything else and the fans would go tonto. Where the media will try to inject life into this is when combined with the story about the striker at Cluj … it’s adding two plus two and getting six, but that’s never stopped the press before of course.

Tonight we were involved in a big game in terms of our season, and the plans we make for it.

I intend to enjoy it, because tomorrow and until Sunday it’s back to the circus.

And we still have Monday to go, and deadline day is never a pleasure, and always a chore.

The Rumour Guy is a Celtic fan and blogger from Glasgow.

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