Ten days before the first Champions League qualifier Celtic are an injury to Odsonne Edouard away from a serious problem.
Albian Ajeti may be in advanced talks about coming to Celtic on loan but after a 12 month season at West Ham he is two weeks into a summer break and will need time to get upto speed and in sync with his new team mates if the deal goes through this week.
European prospects have been sidelined with the focus on 10-in-a-row but both targets should be attainable with forward planning in what is likely to be a buyers market with over-stretched clubs staring at red flags rather than leagues ones.
Celtic have traditionally let themselves down in Champions League qualifiers with an under-strength squad failing to beat opponents such as Maribor, Club, AEK Athens and Malmo.
Two years ago Jack Hendry was in the side that lost 2-1 away to AEK Athens, a year ago Callum McGregor played at left-back with Greg Taylor signed a few weeks later for a fee of around £2m.
The Champions League qualifiers start later this season but with the first tie next midweek Neil Lennon has one striker to rely on and no central defenders beyond Chris Jullien and Kris Ajer.
Putting the spotlight on the highly remunerated CEO, in The Sun, Provan writes:
A couple of seasons ago Lawwell’s decisions cost Celtic the signing of Hoops-daft John McGinn.
He won’t be forgiven if that parsimony costs the champions ten in a row. For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t see The Ten as a holy grail. A club of Celtic’s size should be measured in Europe, the real proving ground for big clubs.
That was the case when Jock Stein was clocking up nine titles on the bounce. Stein’s players were beating St Mirren on the Saturday, St Etienne on the Wednesday.
They’d have had Lenny’s team for breakfast. But I get what The Ten means to a support that can see history in the making.
Despite the financial hit from the pandemic, Celtic still have the means to bury Rangers. It’s time they proved it.
This is the moment Lawwell should be pushing the boat out. Adding proper quality to the squad would give Lennon half a chance of making the Champions League group stage too.
For too long Lawwell has been trying to crack Europe on the cheap. Remember, this is a board who gave up home advantage for a Champions League qualifier to make a few quid from the Commonwealth Games. How did they get away with that?
While we’re at it, did Celts really have to splash £4.5m on a keeper when it could have gone on a striker?
No harm to Vasilis Barkas but Lennon could have signed David Marshall for free. You’re not telling me Marshall wouldn’t have done Lenny a turn with his track record.
The first-round draw of the Champions League takes place at 11am today with Celtic facing a one-off tie against the champions of Iceland, Sweden, Kosovo or Northern Ireland.