Five weeks after securing the domestic double Chris Sutton has slammed Celtic as embarrassing.
The trophies won by Martin O’Neill and his squad were viewed by many fans as a great escape from a season of chaos that included three changes of management.
Despite losing eight matches in the SPFL Celtic secured the title with a dramatic final day win over Hearts.
Changes were expected. Fans looked forward to signings, bolstering the squad to put season 25/26 down as a blip.
So far Luis Palma, Stephen Welsh and Hayato Inamura have left the club.
Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Oxlaid-Chamberliain didn’t report for training at Lennoxtown on Friday. Both are out of contract.
SUTTON HAS GROUNDS FOR CONCERN
Sutton fired up red flags last summer about the direction that Celtic were moving in.
Twelve months later he fears that things are going in the same direction as he explained to Daily Record readers:
Celtic got there in the end with the coaching staff but it has been bizarre that it’s taken five weeks to sort it all out, and it was only announced on the very morning the squad reported back for pre-season training.
When you factor in the wrangling over Marcelo Saracchi and the discussions over a loan or a permanent deal, it does look a bit embarrassing how long everything is taking.
Chuck in the uncertainty over Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s futures and it doesn’t exactly prove fans with much confidence about what is to come the rest of the summer.
If it takes five weeks to secure people who are already in the building, how’s it going to go when bringing in others from outside?
Sutton voices the concerns of many Celtic fans.
For more than a year the club has had a bank balance in excess of £70m.
Some of that money could be spent on players but last season was a constant struggle to score goals. Hardly surprising after selling Kyogo Furuhashi, Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah.
Ihanacho and Daizen Maeda came to the rescue at the end of last season but there are doubts over both players going into next season.
Callum Osmand and Shin Yamada were at training yesterday. They should be joined soon by Johnny Kenny.
The first landmark of the summer, pre-season training has passed without activity. Next up is the first friendly on July 7 then the SPFL opener on August 3.
The SPFL opener is almost as close time-wise as the Scottish Cup Final.
Football is relentless, it never stands still. Sutton is looking for Celtic to finally get on board.
Oh they’re trolling us and they’re enjoying the fu**in torture of it all the way !
Evil old grey men !
If DD thinks he is going to have to sell up, having 70m + in the bank is a selling point.
I won’t be expecting any big money buys coming in unless the usual happens, big money comes in first, but even then it’s probably still not gonna happen.
Frees, loans and prospects is now the Celtic way, which allows nobody to build a team or a future.