As another player departs, one has to wonder quite how ridiculous the state of this current squad is. Indeed, Liel Abada has headed stateside for reasons outside of football. In recent seasons he dazzled on the wing, with Jota on the other side and for spells Giakoumakis was between them. Mooy provided support behind and Starfelt was a key part of the spine in defence.
All of those players have now departed and the club has banked the guts of £100m in the last year or two. How then are we in a position whereby our back four in the Champions League consisted of the likes of Scales and Taylor? Why did we fail to replace Mooy and then sell Turnbull when the midfield options were limited, now worsened by the injury to Callum McGregor?
The days of picking three from McGregor, Mooy, O’Riley and Hatate are a faint memory today. The times when a flawless system meant that the skipper’s absence was seamlessly covered are firmly in the past.
The cry for a left back to challenge Taylor for a starting place fell on deaf ears, the two central defenders signed rarely made the squad until options were exhausted, and projects were bought to fill the wings.
And despite this negligence of the team, on top of losing an incredible manager, Celtic can still win this league. If we do so, this side must rank among the poorest Celtic championship winning teams. Yet, we would find ourselves in an incredible financial position from which to build if the board ever developed something close to ambition for football achievement beyond Scottish shores.
Let’s hope we can muster up enough mentality to stumble over the line.