Who did Brendan get rid of?

One of the first tasks that Brendan Rodgers faced last summer was to trim the size of the first team squad. Fortunately some that looked like getting trimmed- such as Stuart Armstrong, James Forrest and Tom Rogic- have been transformed and played a key role in this season's successes. A number of players were sent out on loan but it's highly unlikely that Nadir Ciftci, Scott Allan or Saidy Janko will be returning to battle for a first team place while Kris Commons and Efe Ambrose will be waved off when their contracts end in June. Most transfer windows leave a manager wondering whether they had did the right thing with a transfer but of the players that Rodgers moved on none are pulling up trees elsewhere. It's often said that when you leave Celtic your career goes downhill, last summer's evidence would back that up with none of the departed players proving an exception. With his squad starting to settle and take shape there won't be any wholesale changes this summer. Hopefully Moussa Dembele and Stuart Armstrong will still be around, if they were to depart I suspect they'll fare better than last summer's crop. CARLTON COLE It really has been quite a descent for the one time Chelsea and England striker. After a week on trial Ronny Deila decided to offer a contract but without getting game time due to the form of Leigh Griffiths his match fitness was always in question. He left a chant and little else. A four match stint with Sacramento Republic in a minor American league has been followed by a move to Indonesian side Persib Bandung who have also recruited Michael Essien. Who knows where he'll end up next. STEFAN SCEPOVIC His loan deal with Getafe was converted to a permanent deal in the close season with Celtic picking up £1m for the Serbian striker. Last season in La Liga he didn't do too badly scoring six goals in 34 games for a club that got relegated. Scepovic would have been expected to lead the line in the promotion hunt but has scored just once in 20 appearances, 13 of them as a substitute. Getafe are currently in sixth place, the bottom play off position, with 34-year-old Jorge Molina the top scorer with 14 goals. COLIN KAZIM RICHARDS Perhaps one of Deila's most bizarre signings, the definition of panic move. He scored against East Kilbride and Hearts then left to continue his world tour firstly with Coritiba and now Corinthians in Brazil taking to 13 the number of clubs that he has played for. Colourful would be one description of a career that has included Fenerbahce and Galatasaray plus stints in France, Greece, Holland and Scotland. He'll probably be negotiating a deal to China as soon as their transfer window reopens. ANTHONY STOKES Things looked quite rosy for Stokesy as he left Hibs with a Scottish Cup winners medal and signed a four year contract with Blackburn Rovers. After scoring on the opening day of the season, a 4-1 home defeat from Norwich, Stokes has failed to add to his first team tally with a loan deal back to Hibs breaking down in January. His last appearance was a 13 minute run against Manchester United, a game that turned out to be Owen Coyle's last as manager. An expensive court case in Dublin followed by personal problems have contributed to Tony Mowbrays decision not to play him despite Blackburn's struggles. CHARLIE MULGREW There was a real clamour from fans to offer Mulgrew a deal as Celtic's central defence was decimated for the Champions League qualifiers. For whatever reason it never happened, after the summer transfer window closed he signed for Blackburn and has the distinction of scoring the only goal of the game in two wins over Newcastle United. He picked up an injury after Scotland's double header against Canada and Slovenia that looks like ruling him out for the rest of the season. STEFAN JOHANSEN Made his farewell appearance in the 2-1 home win over Astana and no-one really noticed the departure of the 2015 Player of the Year. Last season was a nightmare with Johansen getting linked and blamed with Ronny Deila as results nosedived. He seems to have recovered his form with Fulham with a run of goals from midfield but the yellow cards are outnumbering the goals 12-10.

Related Stories

Every Celtic Signing of the Martin O’Neill Era Ranked

The Bears Are Running Scared of Celtic’s New Bhoys

Is Daizen Maeda a Celtic Cult Hero? I Think So — Here’s Why

Where did the £47 thousand pounds a week Celtic story come from? And how it was debunked.

Celtic’s Algarve Friendly Is the Summer Tonic

Celtic Linked With World Cup Midfielder

You may have missed

Celtic’s Biggest Transfer Successes of the Last 20 Years

Watch as Yogi Junior falls to pieces on ACSOM discussing Jugen Flopp

Barry Ferguson delivers the kiss of death on Derek McInnes

SFA give John Beaton emotional Ibrox return

ANTHONY STOKES

What do you feel about this?

Related Stories

Trending Now

You may have missed