Chris Sutton has warned Celtic that there is no January quick fix to their problems.
Sitting 35th out of 36 in the Europa League isn’t much of a selling point.
That position could be improved on by Matchday 6 but it is hard to see Celtic roaring into contention after starting with three defeats.
Those results form the core of a run that consists of five wins in seven matches without going into the Champions League capitulation against LASK Linz.
When you add in a 74-year-old manager who will be out of contract in June it doesn’t paint the most attractive of pictures.
Sutton first raised the alarm bells about Celtic recruitment in the summer of 2025.
Kyogo Furuhashi was sold in January without being replaced. It was similar with Nicolas Kuhn, this season Arne Engels was sold with no obvious replacement.
The carrot of Champions League football would have played a part in enticing Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh to Celtic.
SUTTON SEES THE GLOOMY PICTURE
Next season the Scottish champions face three qualifiers to reach the group stage. Despite their domestic domination there is no guarantee over Celtic finishing this season in top spot.
It all contributes towards a gloomy picture.
Summing the issues up in the Daily Record, Sutton writes:
It’s bleedingly obvious Celtic are going to need reinforcements in January to sort out the glaring deficiencies in this squad.
But here’s a big question?
What decent player is going to want to come to a club that is seemingly happy to be European also-rans at best and whipping boys at worst?
Seriously.
There has probably been high-fiving and backslapping in the Celtic boardroom about getting the likes of Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh.
But those players were likely signed with the promise of competing in the Champions League – not propping up the Europa.
It’s going to be a harder sell if they are already out of the competition with games to go and looking like a club with very little ambition to do much about it in the future.
It is hard to disagree with the issues raised by Sutton. The solution is more elusive.
Meanwhile O’Neill remains the public face of the club. Answering questions on European status as much as tactics, results and hamstring strain updates.
Tomorrow the focus switches to domestic matters and a trip to face Hibs at Easter Road.
Celtic go there having won 15 of their last 16 SPFL Premiership matches. That form is taking some attention away from the dismal and declining European record.
While that domestic record continues the storm clouds are kept at bay. How long it lasts no-one can say but based on January 2026 Recruitment it looks like the same group of players will be required through till the end of this season.
Joe it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if silent Nicholson and cabbage patch doll face Wilson sell a few 1st team players in January and give the likes of Scales a life long contract extension, club is in a bad place and can’t see a quick fix….