One Signing Done, But Celtic Still Has A Lot Of Work To Do In The Next Fortnight.

The first signing is done. The second is badly required. So, although all at Celtic are patting themselves on the back today, this is the moment to double down. Celtic needs to get back out there and back into the transfer market.

We still have two key positions needing filled; some people are going to say three, including the keeper, but the manager does not seem too concerned about relying on Hart for the remainder of the campaign, and I tend to agree. Most teams don’t come out of their own half against us, so replacing Hart is more a priority for the summer.

There’s an interesting position we haven’t filled and now probably won’t in this window, but that’s a subject for another article. The two we’re focussed on is the left back and the striker, and we appear to be moving forward with both.

There aren’t a lot of striker names being tossed around which seem credible to me. Shankland keeps coming up. Miovski has quieted down, which I regard as a pity, but Aberdeen might be asking too much money. Van Hooijdonk keeps being mentioned although I’m starting to wonder if there’s really any truth in that as we could do business on that easily, and haven’t yet. Mathias Kvistgaarden is a recurring one, but his club are asking a lot for a guy who is a definite punt.

The striker position was the most critical one coming into the January period. It remains the most critical one, and whilst I’m delighted that we’ve brought in a further player in the wide right position, which I think we badly needed, I was hoping for the striker first. Whoever it is, I hope we’re some ways down the line. I hope we’ve made progress.

Kuhn’s name came out of nowhere. I have a sneaky feeling that the striker will be similar. I reckon the name will be other than has been in the public domain all this time. I almost hope so when I think about names which have been bandied about like the guy from Leeds who has a dreadful record. There’s a new one doing the rounds today, the Bristol City striker Tommy Conway, who has been scoring well of late. He’s 21. People will say that screams “project.”

And that view would be justified, in spite of his goals against West Ham which have made headlines south of the border this week. He’s clearly talented, but he’s nowhere near ready to spearhead Celtic’s attack to win this title. Too much pressure.

The pressure should be on the boardroom, and they need to keep us moving forward. It’s taken us 17 days to bring in the first player; that feels way too long to me, way too much like foot dragging as the team is about to re-enter competitive matches. The striker needs time to bed in if he’s going to be ready for next weekend’s football and right now … nothing.

So whatever is happening behind the scenes, it has to happen a bit faster. There’s still a glaring hole in our squad; we have no backup forward at the moment and a striker who is not exactly on top form, and whose injury could flare up at any time.

So we’re still gambling. That’s what worries me. The manager should not be put in that position.