The summer transfer window often brings with it a mix of anticipation, tension, and scrutiny — especially for a club like Celtic, whose ambitions are high and whose support is famously passionate and demanding…
In recent days, The Celtic Star has been critical of the club’s activity (or perceived lack thereof) in the transfer market. That criticism has stemmed not just from a lack of ‘marquee’ signings but also from a wider unease about whether the club is fully equipped — structurally and strategically — to take the next step, particularly in Europe.
But as always, it’s important to recognise and respect different viewpoints.
One of the more thoughtful pieces of correspondence we’ve received came from a reader who has previously communicated with the Celtic board and who offered a perspective not often aired – the logistical and strategic challenges the club faces in navigating an increasingly complex and competitive football marketplace.
This is someone who’s had insight into the workings of the Celtic boardroom and highlighted to us some uncomfortable realities that are perhaps often overlooked in supporter discourse.
Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive of Celtic FC looks on from the stands prior to the Premiership match between Celtic FC and St Mirren FC at Celtic Park on May 17, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Firstly, the issue of many clubs wanting the same players was raised. The market for top-tier talent is brutally competitive, and Celtic, operating within the financial limitations of the Scottish Premiership, faces a steep uphill battle.
Salaries and incentives are crucial. Many of the players who could improve Celtic are simply out of reach, both in terms of transfer fees and wage demands.
Playing in Scotland has limitations. The league’s profile, the presence of artificial pitches, and the risk of only two guaranteed Champions League games (if, heaven forbid, qualifying fails) are deterrents for certain targets.
Not every player is desperate to wear the Hoops. Even if we, as fans, can’t fathom it, not every talented player dreams of a move to Celtic Park and some who do come here soon want to move on. Perhaps the most recent example of that is with Nicolas Kuhn, but others may also fall into that bracket, such as Kyogo, Odsonne Edouard, Olivier Ntcham, Ryan Christie and others.
Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers Celtic v St Mirren, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 3 August 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace, IMAGO / Shutterstock (The Celtic Star)
Add to that the suggestion that Brendan Rodgers himself can be indecisive at times in finalising targets, and suddenly the delays and stalling in recruitment don’t seem quite so straightforward.
Then there’s the managerial contract narrative. Concerns about Rodgers not being offered an extension mirror historical parallels – Martin O’Neill once worked under a one-year rolling deal without drama. So perhaps the uproar this time is unnecessary — and the club sees no need to fix what isn’t broken.
These are certainly valid viewpoints and are also grounded in real-world complexity. Transfers aren’t just about willingness or ambition — they’re about timing, market conditions, negotiation power, and fit.
There’s a useful way to frame what seems to be happening — think of Brendan Rodgers as a film director casting for a major production. He has a clear vision for the leading role — he wants a star, someone with real presence who can elevate the whole project. He believes Celtic has the platform and the pull to attract that kind of talent.
Celtic FC coach Brendan Rodgers looks on before the Como Cup match between Al-Ahli and Celtic FC at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on July 26, 2025 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
But behind the scenes, the production team — in this case, the recruitment department and board — are lining up solid, dependable character actors. They’re experienced, affordable, and probably available now, but they don’t quite match the manager’s vision for a blockbuster.
Think of some of the players linked from Belgium and the Netherlands as those safe casting options.
Meanwhile, Rodgers is holding out for someone with more box office appeal — a player who turns heads and can transform the team’s European prospects. That kind of signing is harder to land, costs more, and attracts more suitors.
When asked on Friday by The Celtic Star, if potential targets were stalling to see if Celtic qualify for the Champions League, Rodgers denied it — but the dynamics suggest otherwise.
Peter Lawwell, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Nicholson (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
However, the gap between ambition and reality may not be about willingness, but about process and alignment. While the mitigating factors have merit, they also raise another important question. Why are we still relying on a model that hasn’t evolved with the game?
The original criticisms of the club — voiced by us and echoed across the support — rest not just on the frustration of missed targets, but on the belief that Celtic’s structure is part of the problem.
After all modern football has changed. Since 2015–16, the top clubs and even mid-tier ones have adapted. They’ve brought in sporting directors, technical staff, negotiation and recruitment experts with KPIs and strategic oversight.
Other clubs face similar hurdles — and overcome them. Clubs in similar or even less prestigious leagues still manage to punch above their weight in the market, and it’s not because their boardrooms are immune to the same issues. It’s because they’ve modernised.
Celtic also remains centralised. The argument goes that Desmond and the board refuse to decentralise control of footballing decisions, and that this concentration of power ultimately stifles agility, ambition, and competitiveness in the key moments that matter. And once we try to move up the food chain — to compete for top-30 calibre European players — the limitations of our current system are exposed.
This is where the criticism deepens. It’s not that Celtic can’t do better. It’s that we choose not to restructure in a way that could allow us to.
Yes, we have money. Yes, the board can get smaller deals done as we saw with this summer’s transfer business and under Mark Lawwell’s term as head of football operations.
Peter Lawwell, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Nicholson (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
But when the club needs to step up — to move from a team that gets into the Champions League to one that competes in it — we seem unable to break through. Is that on Brendan Rodgers? Perhaps in part. But it’s also about whether Celtic , as an institution, has the capability to compete in a new footballing era.
Both arguments have merit — and in truth, they aren’t mutually exclusive. The market is more difficult than ever. But that’s exactly why the club must evolve to meet the demands.
It’s not enough to say it’s hard. It’s always been hard. And spoiler alert, it will get harder still. Celtic, as a club with a proud history and European ambition, needs to be structured to meet the modern football world head-on.
The Celtic Board. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).
We at The Celtic Star will continue to be critical when we believe criticism is warranted. But we’ll also offer space for reasoned, informed views from supporters who want to contribute to the wider discourse in good faith. Whether you’re in the boardroom, in the stands, or anywhere in between — the debate about Celtic’s future direction belongs to all of us.
We invite further correspondence, from all sides. Because the best path forward begins with an honest conversation and with debate.
Niall J
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Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered and don’t worry, your copy will be signed by the legendary Celtic and Scotland star who captained Celtic for the early years of the 1980s.
And from today we’ve reduced the price of an earlier David Potter book – Celtic’ Icicle – Alec McNair – which you’ll receive for FREE when you order with Celtic in the Eighties. So you get two great Celtic books by David Potter and better still the postage is only charged on one. Offer available for a short period only as we have a very limited number of copies of David’s wonderful book on Alec McNair left.
So why have one brilliant David Potter book when you can enjoy two?
Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.
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I run a successful recruitment business here in Australia and everything said in defence of the board is window dressing! Structure, environmental constraints, etc etc etc are all aspects that my clients overcome in a recruitment sense on a daily basis! The only thing lacking is the will to get it done, pure and simple, If we are shopping in the ‘wrong’ ,arkets, why? One of the most common mistakes is thinking that everyone is the same and there motivations are identical, this is very rarely the case, and if you come up against the same objection, repeatedly, then that is on you, not the market.
We have shown in the past that when we want to we can get players in the mould we are looking, are you telling us that BR is insisting on every signing we make being a ‘superstar’ that can ‘turn heads’? It seems farfetched to say the least that we, as a club, cannot find talent on the wings better than what we have now, not a chance do I believe that, or that any of the issues highlighted are the core reason, sure one or tother might play a part in one or two individuals not coming but your are telling us it is raining while pissing on our back if you expect us to believe that!
The argument about the structure of the club is so beyond the scope of a potential player coming to us that is defies belief that a professional, of any description, would attempt to use that as an excuse, seriously we are not that stupid!!
The board and club as a whole needs to do much better in this regards, although the constant queue of people waiting to part with their cash tells you otherwise
There are two international quality players at a club in Europe right now that Celtic could realistically purchase both for around £11m.
Their wages at Celtic would be at least 3 times the gross money they get now and both would instantly improve our team to compete in the CL.
HH
The Celtic board are infamous for waiting to see if we Q for the CL before opening the biscuit tin, well if we end up in the EL we will still require reinforcements, get the finger out, ITS NOT YOUR CLUB!!!!!
We can’t afford the high wages for 23+ champions league players, we all know that.
But we can do more on the youngster side (like Ajax who crushed us) and attract 15 years old from scotland and develop them.
Where are the Hoops young lads this year ?
Idah is barely ok but not good enough, there is surely a 18 years old who can play his role.
Is there any left back to help KT among the under 20’s ?
If we don’t have that, we are doing something wrong with formation…
That article defence of our, so called, transfer strategy was scattergun., a bit like the process itself.
To paraphrase Ange, he said that his policy was to bring players in for £2M, develop them, sell them for a profit, and the next time buy a £6M player and repeat the process.
The problem we have is that our recruitment team spend £2M five or six times before we find a guy that we can turn that big profit on, however that leaves us paying four or five guys who can’t cut it, draining wages every week.
The fundamentals of recruitment don’t change: find your price range (ours should be about the £5M-£6M mark) and draw up a list of targets, contact the agent to see if the player would be interested in playing in Scotland and playing for Celtic, ascertain wage demands, contact the club and see if the player is for sale, and get the deal done if the price is acceptable.
No one is naive enough to think that every deal goes through easily: if the player doesn’t want to come, move on, wage demands too high, move on, asking price too high, move on.
Needless to say all of the above should be done with the agreement of the manager. If a player is foisted on him that he doesn’t want or rate, then that helps no one.
Make no mistake, Celtic are not operating anywhere near, even the middle level of transfers where players are going for £15M-£25M.
Our policy, such as it is, is riddled with incompetence, a lack of decisiveness, and the willingness to push deals through until panic sets in during the final two days of any window. We have absolutely no succession planning, where player replacements are identified and constantly reviewed.
I really wonder what is the point of our recruitment team, and more importantly what it is they actually do, as nothing appears to be done between one window shutting and the next opening. I have visions of them lounging about a room one reading the latest John Grisham, while another plays Football manager, and another watches the romantic movie channel.
Regardless, it must be soul destroying to watch whatever work you are doing being casually disregarded by a suit further up the chain in favour of the Chairman’s contact book.
Alternative view was considered, reported and analysed. There is a substantial transfer budget available to be spent this month but action speaks louder than words. The team that beat Startan Bratislava 5-1 last season has been weakened and the side that started on Saturday would be in a much tougher contest. If we lose Brendan as a result we will get a downgrade replacement, possibly from within. John Kennedy assisted by Shaun Maloney maybe?
The Celtic board are infamous for waiting to see if we Q for the CL before opening the biscuit tin, well if we end up in the EL we will still require reinforcements, get the finger out, ITS NOT YOUR CLUB!!!!!
We are now starting with two of last year’s substitutes, Idah and Yang, as starters and neither is fit for purpose.
We are now in a position of playing players and hoping they will come good.
This is simply unsustainable for a self declare “big club”.
Spot on.
No excuses for not strengthening now.As Jas said,”we are going to need players in regardless,for the Thursday Sunday grind of the EL if we don’t make the CL.I don’t believe decent players put all their stock in playing in CL.There are good players in Europe,affordable ones who would be lured by the chance to play in European competition.Even the EL.This scrambling about on August 31st every summer ,only to miss out on targets is real groundhog day depressing pish.Overhaul of recruitment needed urgently
The Rodgers angle and the board incompetence and backward thinking and structures are valid points, and probably related, the other stuff is total red herring territory. As others have pointed out above, this is the market everyone operates in, many successfully, and many of those lacking our resources.
This is like someone saying the world is a difficult and complicated place to live in, yet billions of us manage to negotiate the complexity , and get along just fine, and as above, those with more resources generally manage better.
Basically the people and the business(football) structure are not fit for purpose, it really isn’t rocket science.
Emotion aside, the club is run amateurishly. It’s all twee, plucky Scots team etc. We have to modernise. That part of the article was correct.
We need a DoF. We’re going through a cycle at present, that isn’t identical but isn’t that far from the 90’s, where it took a radical modernisation (the Bunnet) to shake out the cobwebs. Right now, we are run by old men with no modern business acumen. A CEO who would be sacked at any other company, first and foremost for being utterly invisible! And a recruitment team who seem unable to get past certain blocks.
Recruitment – we’re not expecting every player to be £10M+, although these days, that seems a normal rate. We get it, that a lot of players just don’t fancy Scotland for football. But there are enough players who think ‘Oh, Ch League football, 2 or 3 seasons and I could get a big move and what a great club to play for’.
So with recruitment, why is it that we faff about, arguing over £100K or something daft when we should just pay what the club ask, before the price goes up further. How many targets have we failed to land? How much £1-2M fees have we wasted on buying too many journeymen?
And as for youth, what is going on with the B team? Absolutely no pathway to the first team. So as soon as they can, the lads are leaving. I would honestly rather we lose or draw a few games with some youngsters getting a game. I get it, that we need players that are ready. But what’s the point of buying 3 or 4 players at £1-2M then not playing them. And you have young lads that desperately need that step up to develop further but they’re languishing until they leave. Anderson, Turley, Dembele, Murray, Kelly, Vata, did or do any of them see themselves being at least a sub in league games? So they leave because they want to play football.
The last point about youth, I actually blame the board and BR, as there’s zero evidence they’re being developed, just lots of talk about pathways………pathways to other clubs it seems. And that rankles as much as the amateurish attempts at making serious bids for players.
This is a classic scenario of directors who don’t have the ability to modernise. I feel that the next steps depend on many factors. How angry and vocal will fan displeasure be? Because if it’s loud enough, the local press will report it and the board will be squirming in plain sight, a fault of their own making. Or will we see panic buys before the window shuts? Or will we be waiting a few years until Calm Doon and others finally retire and we can modernise the club? But that could take a few more years.
Right now, fans are right to be confused at the silence and frustrated at the lack of activity. The manager seems frustrated and there’s no way he will sign a contract. He’s just said that he will only sign if there is ambition and superior player recruitment. Unless there is some rabbit coming out the hat, we’ll need a new dugout face. But we do have every right to be frustrated and ask questions. Because you can only go on evidence and when there’s no evidence to examine, you have to question why
That was quite negative, reading back my comments but I think part of the frustration is the silence. Hopefully, we’ll see 2 wingers at a minimum, maybe a striker. That would help with Ch league coming up