Since August 2018 and the failure to sign John McGinn from Hibs Celtic’s transfer dealings have become infamous.
On the back of successive doubles and two seasons in the group stage of the Champions League it seems that an incredible degree of complacency has set in.
There are names that have arrived at the club, who won’t come near to featuring in Jalkapllon EM 2020 betting markets, that will make fans shudder for years to come.
Loan fees and wages were paid for Oli Burke, Jeremy Toljan, Moritz Bauer, Shane Duffy, Diego Laxalt and Jonjoe Kenny. Fees and contracts were handed to Vakoun Bayo, Hatem Abd Elhamed, Albian Ajeti, Marian Shved, Patryk Klimala and Vasilis Barkas.
There has been little contribution from the loan players while the resale value of the players signed has fallen through the floor.
Throughout all the comings and goings Celtic have always had Scott Brown. At different times in the season he is written off but always bounces back. On Sunday at Ibrox he will be an essential part of John Kennedy’s plans to retain the Scottish Cup.
Broony will be a Celtic player for just over one more month. Service dating back 14 years will end in May when he switches to Aberdeen.
Regardless of how highly you are rated within a club it is always reassuring to have that respect in the form of a contract.
When Celtic’s season started falling apart in the autumn the signs were ominous. Whatever was about to unfold it might have been wise to nail down Brown onto an extended contract even if he would be 36 when next season started.
It now seems that Peter Lawwell was playing another game of brinksmanship, something that he doesn’t have a very good record of, going all the way back to Jackie McNamara’s drive down to sign for Wolves in 2005.
In his first media conference as Aberdeen manager Steven Glass told the Daily Record:
Since I got back, the enormity probably sunk when the announcement the club was going to sign Scott (Brown) happened. I knew the club was enormous but the news that Scott was going to join us is huge.
The fact he wants to come shows me how big the club is. When I got offered the job, the next step was to get Scott Brown done. What Mr (Peter) Lawwell came out and said showed how important Scott is to us and to Celtic.
The fact that Mr Lawwell said they tried desperately to keep Scott Brown says everything about Scott Brown. I know for a fact they did on the last day he was up here signing his pre-contract.
They were desperate to keep him and there were people trying to convince him not to come. I believe I had provided everything that I could. He’s not here for the money. He’s here for the opportunity, for trust and the environment he’s going to be working in.
A new captain to replace Brown is just one more task for the next Celtic manager to attend to as Lawwell officially retires as CEO on June 30 with Dom McKay arriving on Monday to ‘shadow’.