When Chris Sutton talks most Celtic fans will take notice, and the former Celtic striker’s comments – as Peter Brown brought to you earlier on The Celtic Star on the Record Sport Podcast will be no different.
Sutton clearly has understandable concerns regarding the possibility that Celtic’s decision to sell Josip Juranovic – and the likely sale of Giakoumakis – will weaken Celtic in the title run-in, with Sutton asking:
‘Sometimes it’s about the here and now. The league isn’t over and I think it’s a big gamble. Could this have not waited until the summer?’
Yet I doubt the Scottish Premiership is Ange Postecoglou’s primary concern.
Yes everyone – the manager included – wants the league title wrapped up as soon as possible and preferably without adding any risk of our own making to the mix, but the January transfer window currently appears perhaps the most important of the two opportunities to buy for Celtic – at this juncture anyway.
Postecoglou’s knowledge of the Asian market has allowed him to pounce for fresh talent when the likes of Japan are in their close season, rather than in the summer when clubs will be in the midst of their own pressing footballing concerns.
This in turn suits a Celtic manager who has never struck as being in Scotland simply to win the domestic baubles of a two-horse race, instead Ange Postecoglou has his eyes set on Champions League progression.
With Champions League football beginning early in the season for Celtic, often in recent times with qualifiers in July, the summer transfer window is usually only warming up when Celtic are looking to purchase players. This often leaves Celtic waiting until later in the window to see what value in European markets – and of course the biggest traders over the border – emerges, meaning Celtic often start their European campaigns with players perhaps unused to the system of play – or having sold players and relying on the likes of Nir Bitton type squad players filling in for essential games – before disappearing into squad filling roles later in the season.
It appears however that Ange Postecoglou targets the January transfer window to identify particular markets and players with a view to using the title run-in to bed those players in, have them used to the physical and tactical demands of the team, and in turn have the strongest squad available, preferably on more than nodding terms with their teammates by the time Champions League football comes around.
It is of course a gamble when the likes of Jura and GG move on, but if the idea is that a Champions League ready squad is by default a team that could and should win the Scottish League more often than not, then long-term any perceived gamble should reduce in risk.
This Celtic squad, even minus GG and Jura, is good enough to win the Scottish top flight, but even with those players in the squad it wasn’t quite good enough at Champions League level.
As such the gamble in allowing Juranovic and Giakoumakis to leave now isn’t the issue, it’s that keeping them and not replacing them now would impact on Ange Postecoglou’s attempts to return Celtic to being a competitive side at the higher echelons of European football. As such it would be more of a risk not to make the right moves now.
Niall J
Both players wanted to leave