The Celtic Board failed in this window, they failed Brendan Rodgers and they failed the Celtic support. They now need to deliver in the summer…

The knives are well and truly out for the Celtic hierarchy, and understandably so after yet another failure to deliver on the transfer front.

Kieran Tierney on a pre-contract
It may sound strange that there is such tension in the air after we sealed the transfer of Kieran Tierney on a pre-contract agreement, secured the return of Jota, and a loan deal for an experienced EPL player in Jeffery Schlupp.


However they sanctioned the sale of Kyogo then failed miserably in their attempts at replacing the Japanese talisman and that has understandably left the majority of Celtic supporters feeling angry and frustrated this morning.

Kyogo may have expressed his desire to move on last summer, but allowing him to leave without having a replacement lined up is sheer incompetence, something that our custodians have been guilty of on more than a few occasions.

Summer spree funded by O’Riley fee
To their credit they did allow Brendan to spend big after the sale of Matt O’Riley last summer, allowing him to bring in Arne Engels for a record £11 million, while Adam Idah was signed for £9.5 million, and £6 million was splashed out on Auston Trusty. Effectively one out paid for the three coming in and didn’t bother the bank balance at any stage.
Some will say we spent a big chunk of the Kyogo fee on Jota, and as good as an addition as he was, he wasn’t a direct replacement for the Japanese striker, and we ultimately failed to fill the gaping hole left by his departure.
Even a loan signing would have been acceptable, but those in charge of our club still failed to achieve that. We should still have more than enough to get over the line in terms of the league title, but that shouldn’t excuse the board’s failings.

Brendan now has final say in signings after offloading the project signings he inherited
One thing that has changed is that Brendan Rodgers is having the final say on potential signings and perhaps there were one or two signings – like the other Danish striker (cheaper one) who signed for West Brom yesterday for around £3m, ideal territory for Celtic in terms of the price.
The dearer Dane was out-priced by their club again as they are well aware of Celtic solid financial position and knew that Kyogo left before we made our approach. They gambled on Celtic being cash rich and desperate knowing that the Celtic support would be unhappy if Kyogo wasn’t replaced and they had our top target.
Cautious loan for Idah proved costly
Norwich did something similar in the summer. It would have been all so different had Celtic simply paid the £3m for Adam Idah last January, when Norwich would have been delighted to offload their third pick striker for that kind of money. Caution eh? Dear prudence more like.

The strikers for the rest of this season are therefore Adam Idah, aided by Daizen Maeda, Johnny Kenny who had deadline day interest from Shamrock Rovers and St Mirren, and Daniel Cummings who yesterday signed a pre-contract with West Ham. Celtic turned down a £500k bid for a player few Celtic supporters will want to see wearing the Hoops.

Brendan will work his magic
Brendan will of course work his magic and it will be enough domestically. Whether it’s another double or a treble we’ll have to wait and see. It’s European that the biggest frustration. Feyenoord recently beat Bayern Munch 3-0 in Rotterdam in the Champions League and throughout the campaign the Bundesliga leaders have shown a vulnerability on their European travels. Celtic should have been looking at throwing everything we’ve got at this one, especially with Daizen missing the game at Celtic Park. That and the failure to sign a new striker weakens Celtic’s hand going into the play-off.

The Celtic Board failed to deliver in this window, they need to deliver in the next one, there is simply no excuse. If they don’t then relations between them and the supporters, and indeed the manager will become even more strained. Here’s a reminder of what they told us this time last year…

Just an Ordinary Bhoy
Celtic in the Thirties

By popular demand, both volumes of Celtic in the Thirties are now available on Amazon Kindle, with the links to order below. Signed copies of both volumes are available on hardback from Celtic Star Books and if you would like author Matt Corr to add a special dedication to your copies please let us know. Order hardback copies HERE or for Amazon Kindle click on the links below…


Who are we signing that will beat Bayern? Next year CL is a qualifying round, one dodgy decision away from losing 50 million. Sensible by the board not to cave in and spend 14 million on a player this window. Summer will see strengthen again with more choice of players.