Celtic has missed an opportunity in failing to make a signing yet. But it’s imperative to get this right.

20 days into the new transfer window, and we haven’t done any significant business yet in terms of bringing players in. Whilst I’m not panicked about it, it is frustrating to see this club doing what it always does—dragging its feet.

I really don’t understand this stupid obsession we have with taking our time, but I do know that on this particular occasion, although it’s not a source of stress, we have missed a trick—and a very simple, neat little trick at that.

Everyone knows that Wednesday is a big game. Everyone knows, in fact, that Wednesday is a huge game—massively important, incredibly significant if we’re going to go through to the next round of the Champions League. And you tell me, what better time could there have been to bring a brand-new signing onto the pitch before kick-off, to introduce him to the crowd? It would have been epic.

That’s the kind of thing a club facing its biggest game of the season would do. It’s great PR. It’s a great introduction for a new player. It’s a great moment for the crowd. It’s a great lift for the team. I’m just disappointed that we don’t have the imagination for something like that because it would have been a brilliant curtain-raiser.

The window has thrown up a lot of rumours, and as you know, I don’t like to write about those. I will, however, write about one particular transfer story that flared and died because I think it’s worth looking at. But in the main, there’s really not a lot to talk about, except for recycled stories you’ve probably read elsewhere 500 times by now. That’s why I don’t like writing about them.

But just in terms of sheer public relations—if for no other reason—it would have been good to unveil a signing before tomorrow’s match. I’m not saying it’s too late for that to happen. For all I know, we’re going to wake up tomorrow morning and find there’s a brand-new superstar in the building. Heck, it could even happen today, or while you’re reading this—or even while I’m writing it. But at the moment, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen on this timeframe.

I don’t detect any real panic amongst the fans over the lack of signings so far. We’ve listened to what Rodgers has said, and he’s convinced the club is going to do the right business. We believe him. We believe in what the manager is saying. We also know that new signings wouldn’t have done us any good in the last two Champions League matches. And we also know that signings aren’t really necessary to win the title or even the domestic treble. Because we have a good, settled squad and a manager the fans can trust, there’s a distinct lack of concern—there’s no real worry about what business we’ll do or when we’ll do it.

Still, the importance of this transfer window shouldn’t be underestimated. It has to be looked at in the broader context. As I said in a previous article, this transfer window isn’t about rebuilding anymore. This is about consolidating the good squad we already have. It’s about making tweaks and additions to take us to another level.

Curiously enough, Patrick Stewart, over at the other club, made one of the most pertinent points in his recent interview with the media (the one that drew so much fire). He said that if you’ve done a rebuild in the summer, you shouldn’t need another rebuild in January—and he’s absolutely correct. I’d go further than that. If you’ve done a rebuild one summer, you shouldn’t need to do another the following summer unless something has gone very badly wrong.

The reason we had to rebuild last summer, of course, is that the summer before was an absolute mess. We were left with players we didn’t need, didn’t want, and couldn’t use, and the squad was desperately short in key areas. Those areas have now been strengthened. The manager has gone out and done what he was expected to do.

Looking ahead to the summer, we should not need another major overhaul—especially if we get it right now. If we sign the right players this month, players of the right calibre, then our summer work should be light: a couple of additions to strengthen certain areas and replacements for anyone who leaves.

If we manage the squad properly, we shouldn’t need a major overhaul again for years. This summer just gone was the third squad overhaul in four seasons. That kind of cycle isn’t good for the club. It’s why this window is so important.

When you look at what Ange did in his second season, most of the work was already done in his first campaign. His January signings were brought in early to give them a running start for the following summer. In a sense, we did a lot of our summer business during that first Ange January window.

That’s what a lot of us are hoping for here. We want to see players brought in now who can hit the ground running in the summer. At the start of next season, we’ll have massive games, including a Champions League qualifying round. We don’t know who we’ll face yet, but we know it’ll be tough, and we know the prize is massive. We have to be ready for that.

So no, I doubt we’ll see a signing walk onto the pitch tomorrow night. It’s a shame and a missed opportunity. But as long as we see signings come in before the window closes—players of the right quality who take our squad to the next level—I think most fans will be broadly satisfied.

I trust the plans for the summer are already in motion. I trust the club knows which players are likely to leave and that their replacements have already been scouted. If we get this right now, then the next transfer window will be far less stressful than those we’ve endured over the past few years.

Photo by Paul Devlin/SNS Group via Getty Images

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