That would be my frustration as a manager- Sutton highlights where Celtic got it all badly wrong

Chris Sutton has pinpointed the timing of Celtic’s summer transfers as one of the reasons behind Tuesday’s Champions League defeat against Feyenoord.

After winning successive SPFL titles that secured Champions League group stage football the hoops should have been better prepared than ever for their trip to Rotterdam.

Transfer activity from Mark Lawwell was slow through the summer with Odin Thiago Holm the only arrival to make it into the squad that played two friendlies in Japan.

When the signings arrived the first four were from Norway, Australia and South Korea. None of them started in Rotterdam with Marco Tilio and Kwon Hyeok-kyu failing to make the Champions League squad.

Carl Starfelt did take a full part in Celtic’s pre-season preparations but after the SPFL opener against Ross County, which saw Maik Nawrocki make his debut, the Swede was sold to Celta Vigo.

Sutton previously raised his concern about that deal, the concerns over Cameron Carter-Vickers were confirmed leaving Liam Scales and Gus Lagerbiele to play together for the second time in the defeat to Feyenoord.

In the Daily Record the former hoops striker explained:

Bristol City’s Alex Scott to Bournemouth for £20m. Cameron Archer £18.5m to Sheffield United. Manchester City’s Under-21 keeper James Trafford going to Burnley for £15m. Chelsea paid £60m for Romeo Lavia, a development player. That doesn’t mean you can’t find gems for £5m or less and polish them up as Celtic have done successfully in their model. But with that approach, it must be done quickly. That’s where the key lies for me in the model.

If you are going to think about achieving anything in the Champions League, you have to try and get those types in as soon as possible to get them working in a real rhythm before they enter the cauldron. We can all see that didn’t happen.

The team against Feyenoord hadn’t played once as a unit and that’d be my frustration as a manager. You need time to get it flowing. Listen, you cannot legislate for injuries. You cannot predict losing your first-choice centre-back in Cameron Carter-Vickers, or Maik Nawrocki or Liel Abada.

But there are some things you can anticipate. I said at the time Carl Starfelt should not have been sold. Not with Carter-Vickers just returning from surgery. It’s forced Gustaf Lagerbielke to be rushed into the fray without any experienced sidekick and we saw how that worked out in Rotterdam.

Celtic knew at the beginning of May when they clinched the title that their group stage began in the middle of September.

As soon as Jota headed to Saudi Arabia at the start of July, his replacement should have been in the door. If that guy was always going to be Luis Palma, he should have been signed way before the final week of the window. Palma hadn’t started a game before Holland. That’s not a recipe for success.

After their summer transfer activities Celtic now have a bloated squad of players with most of the new recruits on four or five year contracts.

As well as Kwon and Tilio not being in the Champions League squad Alexandro Bernabei and Yuki Kobayashi, both signed in the last 15 months failed to make the list.

In January Rodgers is in need of experience and quality but almost of equal priority will be trimming the squad down to a workable group of between 22 and 25 players ready to step in the way that Scales has over the course of this month.

Celtic currently have Yosuke Ideguchi, Sead Haksabanovic, Bosun Lawal and Adam Montgomery out on loan as well as development players Ben Summer, Ben McPherson, Tobi Oluwayemi and Matthew Anderson.