SENTINELCELTS

Morning, all.

A quick perusal of the sports pages down here informs me of the last day of the transfer window, but we at Celtic can sit back rather smugly and refuse to hit the panic button. After all, the last day of our window isn’t until Thursday-and that’s plenty of time!

Our transfer window has been very disappointing, not to put too fine a point on it. We watched our side manfully rise to the occasion last season with a highly unlikely double, something that we would normally celebrate with gusto, but we knew that our squad needed serious work done on it. There were gaps everywhere, not just in our starting XI, but also in the squad as a whole. 

That starting XI was as poor as we’d seen in over thirty years, but the impact of possible suspensions or further injuries had us really bricking ourselves. The quality wasn’t there, it’s as simple as that. 

Yesterday, a year old BR interview resurfaced. It was the one where he said that the summer 2025 window was a crucial one for us, yet the business done was nowhere near good enough-and, most importantly, nowhere near early enough. We had once again waited till the CL qualifiers were over before we made any move-by which time it was too late-and those we eventually signed both played in the same position, and neither was anywhere near the quality required. It was also one of the few positions that didn’t need strengthening in the first place. So if you can make sense of that, I hear there will be a vacancy or two for you soon enough on the Celtic board!

The lack of depth in our squad really hit home over the last week with the injuries to McGregor and Høgh, as well as the one to Osmand. Nor should we forget that Donovan is clearly struggling to do the ninety, and CCV looks likely to break down every time he takes to the field. We don’t have a back-up keeper either, so an injury or suspension there will really hamper us. We went into the transfer window ELEVEN weeks ago knowing that we needed the following as a minimum-

Keeper. Centre back. Left back. Big hard bastert No 6. A proper No 8 plus a back up. A replacement for Engels. A right winger. Two genuine goal scoring centre forwards-big ones! We have so far signed Baur for the No 8, Høgh and Duran as the goal scorers, and Hassan wide right. £30m the lot, which sounds ambitious. But it barely scratches the surface. 

We are now at the stage of the window where the Celtic CEO and CFO actually get busy with the dregs of what remains available. Yes, we apparently have two targets on their way to finalise deals. No, neither of them was known to most of us beforehand. No, still no sign of ANY of the defensive additions we desperately need. Nor a No 6.

All of which makes me wonder whether that BR interview resurfacing yesterday was a good or bad thing. Because when he correctly pointed out that our signing policy was nowhere near good enough-and, most importantly, nowhere near early enough-it was just like hearing one of those earworm things. You know, an annoying tune that you were never a fan of but you can’t get it out of your head? Lasts for ages, yet batters you numb time and time again? Well, get used to it. Because we will hear it again soon, just with a slightly different Irish brogue. 

And then, almost as if on cue, we will hear another familiar refrain, that of a senior board member saying that mistakes were made and lessons will be learned.

Whoopy-whoop-whoop. Just in time to hail The Glorious Balance Sheet. And prepare for the same again next summer, and the same set of platitudes. 

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Above article by BMCUWP