Celtic line up Dublin friendly but little else

Celtic are reported to be in talks with Shelbourne over a pre-season friendly in Dublin.

Celtic will play AC Milan at home on July 25 in their final warm up ahead of the SPFL opener the following weekend.

With no manager in place, or even a backroom team it appears that little has been done to prepare for next season.

Last year Celtic played Queens Park then Cork City before enjoying a training camp in Portugal, playing Newcastle at home then taking part in the Como Cup.

The previous season they played DC United, Manchester City and Chelsea before a storming start to the season as they progressed in the new look Champions League.

A training camp is essential to pre-season preparations. Around 10 days in a high quality environment broken up by a couple of games.

This morning The Sun gave some detail on Celtic’s plans.

Behind the scenes, plans are already well underway to get the squad up to speed.

It was revealed earlier this week that a glamour friendly against  AC Milan  at Parkhead is already being finalised, which will see the Italian giants head to  Glasgow  on July 25.

But SunSport can reveal that another fixture is being arranged for  Dublin  earlier in the month, with the Hoops set to take on  League of Ireland  outfit Shelbourne.

It’s understood  Celtic  chiefs have been looking at potential Irish opponents to kickstart their  pre-season  schedule in a few weeks’ time.

Joey O’Brien’s Shelbourne have a fortnight off in early July after receiving a Conference League first-round bye, making them the perfect candidates to face the Hoops.

The Reds face  Dundalk  on July 3 before enduring a 15-day wait for their FAI Cup clash with Kerry on July 15.

The high-profile fixture would be a major financial boost for Shelbourne, who haven’t faced Celtic in a friendly since 2008.

A pre-season plan requires between 25 to 30 players. The early matches are lively to involve players only getting 45 minutes.

At the moment Celtic would need to go deep into the youth ranks to find those numbers.

DWINDLING NUMBERS- THE CELTIC SQUAD

No deals have been announced for any of the six loan players that finished the season. Kasper Schmeichel has retired, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are out of contract.

The seven players at the World Cup Finals won’t be playing for Celtic until the end of July.

Examples of the lack of numbers are obvious. In defence Colby Donovan, Liam Scales, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Dane Murray are the only players with first team experience.

In midfield there is Callum McGregor, Luke McCowan, Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo.

A new manager will be requiring five or six first team starters, ideally fully involved in pre-season.

Almost two weeks on from the Scottish Cup Final it appears that no progress has been made towards appointing a manager.

Season Ticket renewals have been completed but there has been no comments or thanks from the club. Not even a Supporters Update video from Interim Chairman Brian Wilson.