Chris Sutton has warned Peter Lawwell that the Celtic squad doesn’t have the strength in depth for the challenges ahead.
Winning a 10th successive title is the holy grail for the season about to begin but there are also three cup competitions to be played for and the chance to reach the group phase of the Champions League.
From 1-11 Neil Lennon has a team more than capable of dominating the SPFL but once injuries kick in every area of the team except centre midfield starts to look vulnerable.
Celtic have still to make any signings to add to the squad that won the title- over the last 12 months Scott Sinclair, Lewis Morgan, Jonny Hayes, Craig Gordon and Jozo Simunovic have moved on.
Mikey Johston and Leigh Griffiths are currently unavailable while there is regular speculation linking other clubs to Odsonne Edouard and Kris Ajer.
Lennon recently admitted that there was no transfers close to completion with his former team-mate telling the Daily Record:
Are you telling me that Celtic have a squad depth strong enough to win another treble? I didn’t think so. Can Celtic do without Odsonne Edouard? When I played at Celtic, if (Henrik) Larsson was injured we’d have John Hartson or myself who could play that role.
I’m not saying we could replace Larsson, he used to bail us out all the time but you get my point, there isn’t a replacement for Odsonne Edouard. There isn’t a replacement for Christopher Jullien.
So if anything happens to these players – and injuries happen in football, we’re all aware of that – who’s going to fill the void? Who’s going to come in and step up and do a job which these players have done?
The manager will be sitting on the bench week in and week out with his fingers crossed praying that he doesn’t get injuries to key men.
We’ve spoken about the midfield area, that’s the only area where you could look at Celtic and say: ‘Do you know what? I think they’re alright there’.
Every other area on the pitch is a massive, massive concern for me. Neil’s not daft, Neil will be aware of that
Right-back might be OK because you’ve got Frimpong, you’ve got Elhamed, but you’re looking at the wide areas thinking James Forrest, who has been such a consistent performer, if he gets injured and is out for a while it’s not the same.
Neil will have to be so, so lucky in terms of his main men staying fit to win every trophy this season – at this moment in time. Everybody can see what needs to be done, they just need to do it.
In the last two seasons Celtic have waited until the close of the transfer window to get the bulk of their business completed- after losing out to AEK Athens and Cluj in the Champions League qualifiers.
