Well, I have said previously the only thing that could prevent Celtic dominating for the years to come was complacency. And behold that's what we have. I'm not saying it's good for Scottish football, just from a Celtic fan perspective. The last two transfer windows have been a cluster fuck.
Helen Keller could see Celtic required two decent center halves in the last 18 months. They go out and get some kid from Dundee who looks terrified of the ball ( I'll not write him off completely given his age but he has zero situational awareness in the box , just watch him). The other signing is some injury prone reserve from Leipzig who has made one appearance and I doubt I'd recognize him in the street.
Of course, they wheel out the same script every year about January being a difficult window to add quality to the squad and we should be happy with Compper and Jack Henry, I'm not forgetting Lewis Morgan. Well their gamble failed miserably so now you will be lucky to get 40, 000 at Europa league matches and shitty Sunday football that accommodates the EL with the subsequent lower attendance.
Roll onto the summer transfer window, no replacement for Roberts, no replacement for Armstrong, no replacement for Dembele. Boyata pulls a hissy fit and is a no show during the qualifiers , and I don't believe for one minute they signed Edouard for 9 mil. They signed Benkovic on loan and to be fair, he looks a class player but Leicester can recall him in January. If they hope to get any money for Boyata they will have to sell him in January although who would pay his market rate when he will be a free agent a few months later? Unless by some miracle he signs an extension but the relationship between player and club seems too far gone. So, that's their two best center backs who could fuck off in January.
They also signed Arzani on another loan deal. The boy may turn out to be the next Eden Hazard but the reality is he's a youth project who has barely played a full 90 minutes in his career. The summer window script was pulled out that it's difficult to compete with English transfer window still being open and things will perk up when that closed. They signed a 32 year old Izaguirre to cover for Tierney. They also signed Mulumbu on another freebie who I think is a decent signing but mostly as a squad player. I was impressed with him last year when he was at Kilmarnock.The point being I don't see any ambition being shown, no effort to improve the squad.
I just don't get it, once again they lose to a very average team in the CL qualifiers because the squad wasn't strengthened in time. They never really stood a chance. The sad part in all this is that John McGinn who would have given his shirt off his back to play for Celtic was sold to Aston Villa for a reported 2.75M. Celtic were too cheap to match Hibs asking price. The boy has been a revelation for Aston Villa by all accounts, and has been pulling all the strings in their midfield. Did you see his goal this weekend? Absolute fucking stupidity by the Celtic board.
So...what does all this mean as far as Celtic's season so far? They crashed out of Europe to a very average Greek side due to defensive frailties never addressed. Other than the most lopsided 1:0 win over Sevco, this team has shown no passion, no urgency, no direct threat on the wings or in front of goal. They look lethargic and toothless. I woke up on Sunday at 4 am which is not that unusual for me and it crossed my mind that Celtic were playing Kilmarnock. So I switched it on in the hope that I would see a more positive attitude from Celtic. Nope, same shit. I switched it off at half time and took the dog for a walk. I admit the Kilmarnock pitch is not conducive to fast flowing ground passing, I don't think I saw a single pass that did not bobble a few times. You have to spend a bit of extra time trying to control the ball. It would not surprise me if Benkowic looked at the pitch during warmup and said "fuck that, that's not for me" and feigned his injury. Back to the game, all this passing from side to side , back, back again, pass it back to Gordon, then slowly back out, square, square. It accomplishes fuck all and is boring as hell. This is what Celtic have become this season, predictably so and easy to beat. No surprise that later I found out they had lost 2:1. Did I say they are so predictable?
There is plenty of time to turn this around, Celtic still have the best squad, I'd like to see what Lewis Morgan can do. However, Rodgers heart has to be in it and I don't think it is. This is reminding me of Martin O' Neil's last season, the team was not strengthened the cracks in the side were obvious, they required 2-3 decent players and the board did not back him. Come to think of it, Lennon left because he felt he had taken Celtic as far as he could......sound familiar?
Celtic will never compete with Europe's elite but what I think the fans would appreciate is an honest effort by the board to improve the squad every season and build on the success of the previous season. I don't think that's asking for much given the money they spend. How many teams have 52,000 season tickets?
So, anyway, we are heading to Scotland for a month in mid October and the wife wanted to go to another football match. She proactively looked to see what games are on when we are on the mainland for the last week. Sure enough she finds out Celtic are playing Leipzig. She asks me can we go? Now we will be in Edinburgh and I have given some excuse about not wanting to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow and back the night before we fly back to NYC. The truth of the matter is I have no desire to watch this current Celtic team play in it's present mindset ( maybe it will change) but more importantly I don't want to give the board one penny of my money. If they can't be bothered investing and improving the squad then I can't be bothered wasting my money on them. Not that Peter Lawwell will notice our absence. I'm hoping that I can convince her we should spend the night relaxing and find a decent Indian restaurant. Staring at a plate Chicken Tikka Masala will be more entertaining than watching this Celtic team, assuming Rodgers can't turn things around. At this point, Rodgers must make the league his priority and I really hopes he starts sending out a reserve team for the EL on Thursday nights. It would be a perfectly acceptable thing to do and a very public "Fuck You" to the board. They deserve it.
I could go on about Peter Lawwell, the board, Dermott Desmond etc. I could mention that in one way, I'd be hesitant giving Rodgers serious money in the transfer market, after all, I could go through a substantial list of failed signings. But honestly..I'm not sure it is worth it. My gut is telling me that Steve Clark will be the next Celtic manager...which I think is more preferable that Neil Lennon part deux.