Brendan Rodgers was put on the defensive today when he was asked about the prospects of bringing in four quality players in the January transfer window.
The Celtic boss recently revealed that when he returned to the club in June his squad assessment was that four quality players were needed to give him a chance of achieving his European ambitions.
Jota, Carl Starfelt and Aaron Mooy departed from last season’s squad, during the summer window seven players were signed up with two more brought in on loan in the last week of the transfer window.
Luis Palma has been the only regular starter in the side this season, of the summer recruits only the Honduran and Nat Phillips started in the defeat to Kilmarnock with the Liverpool defender likely to be recalled to Anfield next month.
In previous seasons Celtic have announced signings in advance of the transfer window opening, from today’s comments it seems like Rodgers is hoping that the right type of player might become available at some stage in the January window.
Rodger’s response to my question on summer recruitment and plans for January.@ACSOMPOD pic.twitter.com/iK5tztD3nH
— Asim Rabbani (@asimrabbani) December 12, 2023
Question: Looking back would you say that you are satisfied by the summer activity and are you confident that in January you’ll be able to get the four quality, first team ready players that you mentioned in terms of experience and quality in general.
Rodgers: Listen, I don’t need to look back, the players were signed, they’re in here, they may not be for now, they’re players that might down the line become really good players for Celtic.
When you come into a club like Celtic at 20 years of age it can be a challenge, the adaption, if you are coming from a different country, it can be tough.
So, those guys have signed long contracts, some of them, and hopefully in that time they can show that they can be Celtic players.
Looking forward, of course we want to improve the squad and I think that we’ll do that with 1, players that are coming back that can prove influential for us and hopefully, if the right players are available, hopefully we can look to improve key areas that we would like to.
Attention will very much be on incoming business next month with Mark Lawwell expected to deliver the quality required by the manager to take the team forward.
? LISTEN: “I felt when I came in the summer that we probably needed four quality players.”
? Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says the club are working hard to add top level players to their squad. pic.twitter.com/1xwfCY5Zab
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) December 1, 2023
Well, that’s inspiring a lot of confidence…..
The fans are already being prepared for the tried and tested “No one wants to sell their best players in January” or “It’s difficult to get quality in January”.
Meanwhile, if the current malaise continues, and we lose the League in the summer we’ll be told “We can only buy quality if we qualify for the Champions League” yet if we qualify we’ll be told “After qualifying we only had a couple of days and we had irons in the fire but couldn’t get them over the line.”
And so the merry gk round of mediocrity continues unabated with the only thing improving is the Board’s salaries and bonuses.
Shameless.
This is all a red herring. Rodgers should easily beat the premiership teams with the so called superier and abundently rewarded squad. If not then it is the coaching and tactics to blame.
Granted better players are needed for Europe but that can wait until the summer.
If he can’t do it he should go while there is still time to rescue the season.
It isn’t rocket science. Stop tippy tappy football and play at least two up when facing teams who ” park the bus”.
Stop the wingers papping the ball into the crowded box.
Lastly , bring in a coach that knows how to organise corners and dead ball situations but this lot haven’t a clue.
Codswallop! Coming from a different country doesn’t make adaption to Scottish football hard. He said, Tilio was finding the “transition hard”. The press added Physicality and Pace as a difference.. Malarkey! BR has his favourites and Mikey J is one. “The best player ever to go through the Academy ever” he said. Well Cal is much better. Explain that? The Scottish Refs let one team get away with Blue Murder. That’s the difference between Scottish Premier Minor League and other countries Premier Leagues.
Celtic FC doesn’t need another striker in January. When C Ronaldo went to Man Utd
Sir Alex took him from the Wing and said “you are going to be a fantastic Forward…a Striker”.
Maeda can be that Striker.
Don’t forget it is more than likely that Maeda will be with the Japanese team in Qatar at the Asian Cup .. Kyogo maybe and Oh is usually in the squad for South Korea … Japan as one of the favourites should make semi finals at least likewise Korea … so a striker should be brought in .. if not permanently then loan (with option to buy) … this window is vital to ensure the title this season … if we lose it .. then the landscape could shift big time with them getting the 60 million bounty that next years Champions league offers.