Halfway through the transfer window a little panic is setting in amongst the Celtic support with some fans beginning to question the old mantra of ‘In Brendan we trust’.
With money banked from successive Champions League campaigns and a Virgil van Dijk bonus assured on the first day of the window expectations were high of significant new faces.
As the team laboured through December it seemed certain that there would be a few arrivals with Marvin Compper the type of player that the fans were hoping for- addressing an obvious weakness in the team.
Confirmation of Lewis Morgan was well received with the Saint Mirren winger impressing in televised games before joining.
A spate of injuries and two departures has changed the landscape with fans now getting a little more anxious about the transfer dealings.
With Zenit St Petersburg visiting in a month’s time two first pick signings would be warmly welcomed.
Supporters know that Celtic have to go off the beaten track for players but just over a decade ago Gordon Strachan was able to shop at Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven.
After securing a landslide title win, clinching the title at home to second placed Hearts, Strachan had to bide his time before bringing in three new faces.
With an automatic place in the Champions League group phase to entice players, the former Scotland boss brought in three players who went straight into his starting XI.
JAN VENNEGOOR OF HESSELINK
A fee of £3.5m was required to sign the striker from PSV Eindhoven, scoring the winner coming off the bench against Hibs was the first repayment.
When he scored on his Champions League debut at Old Trafford the garden looked rosy but injuries were to kick in and interrupt his progress at Celtic.
Later on Scott McDonald and Georgios Samaras were signed to share the scoring burden but there is no doubt that ‘Big Jan’ made an impact to justify his transfer fee.
THOMAS GRAVESEN
This move was long rumoured but when it was put into place supporters were genuinely amazed.
At the age of 30 Celtic were signing a midfielder from Real Madrid that had clocked up over 100 EPL appearances at Everton.
Like many things that seem too good to be true it quickly went downhill for Tommy although he scored in his first two Glasgow derbies and scored a hat-trick away to St Mirren.
Things never quite seemed right and even a loan move back to Everton failed to rekindle his fire leaving his career to quietly peter out although he is now living the millionaire lifestyle in Las Vegas.
LEE NAYLOR
The surprise package, the full-back was probably the most successful of the summer signings although like the other two his impact fell away after a sparkling start.
Left-back had long been a problem position but after trying Mo Camara and Ross Wallace in that position Naylor was an outstanding success.
Naylor quickly made himself at home, weeks after leaving Wolves he was making his mark in the Champions League against Manchester United and AC Milan.