My article on the Celtic transfer window hasn’t been published yet, but it’s on the way.
I am not delaying it because I think there could be a late shock signing from the free transfer market.
We don’t do that stuff. Once that window slams, that’s it.
I put up a piece the other day about how our club develops footballers, how it makes them better, and how that is the key to our success. I am bewildered that other clubs allow their managers to spend fortunes building entire squads year on year without ever asking the simple question; when are you going to start working with what you’ve got?
Celtic doesn’t act like this. I know some people wish we would. Apart from our backline – which we rebuilt in the summer because we had to – much of the current first team squad has been at the club a while. Rodgers bought some duds, but thankfully not too many of them.
This team is still, for the most part, made up of players who’ve played a full role in the eight titles wins so far.
We have one Hell of a month in front of us, and no matter what a lot of people think of the transfer business, we’re ready.
We’ve got the team now that we can challenge on all fronts, quite comfortably.
Look across the city and you see a totally different scenario.
How ready are they?
Not at all if you believe their manager and Mark Allen, the man above him at the club.
Warburton built two teams. Caixinha built one.
Gerrard has built two in a window and a half … and today club sources are telling the press that they aren’t finished yet but are scouring the free transfer lists looking for more. And you marvel at this and wonder; did our Ibrox win panic them this much?
And of course, the answer is yes.
Yes it did panic them.
They are all over the place at the moment, scrambling desperately to keep the feel-good flowing.
But spending more money?
Signing more players to enhance an already bloated squad?
This is fear talking. The fear that even with that bloated squad they don’t have enough about them to get through a domestic campaign and European group stage football as well. Celtic is built for the dual challenge; it is clear they don’t believe they are.
More than anything, it’s effectively a vote of no confidence in the manager although they won’t admit that yet. How can a guy have signed over 20 players in 18 months and still not like the state of his team? Can you imagine if this was a Celtic boss?
Christ, we sign a couple of footballers for key positions and suddenly it’s the end of people’s Celtic Park careers and the media is trying to provoke a crisis. At Ibrox they can sign entire squads and all people do is talk about “strength in depth.” It’s madness.
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