Martin O’Neill takes ridiculous route to defend Celtic’s transfer failings

Martin O’Neill has turned to questioning price tags to defend Celtic’s summer signings. And whatever passes for strategy.

Whether Haissem Hassan cost £6m or £9m doesn’t really matter since he starts November with no goals and one assist since his transfer from Real Oviedo.

Apparently the Egyptian winger was identified in January as a Celtic signing target.

This line is increasingly pushed out to give the idea that Celtic has a sophisticated, in-depth recruitment operation.

With Celtic facing Champions League Play Off matches on August 19 and 25 any signings from the World Cup Finals would miss out on pre-season training.

Hassan was signed on August 12, a week later he came off the bench in the 3-0 home win against LASK Linz. Despite having five substitute options the new winger wasn’t used in the away match which Celtic lost 5-1.

O’NEILL DEPLOYS A FAMILIAR TRANSFER PLOY

At the time of signings football clubs often like to leak inflated transfer fees to highlight their ambition and intent.

When things don’t go so well for the signing they often take a step back on the fee.

The Scotsman reports:

“What is his price tag by the way?” queried O’Neill, raising an eye-brow when £9m was put to him. “I’m not sure that that was the case, in all honesty. No, nowhere near that.

“But no, he’s come to terms with it, his English is not great at the moment, and I think he’s just genuinely come to terms with Glasgow life and come to terms with the way that we see him in the side.”

By the way the transfer fee doesn’t matter when matches kick off.

With Jota in the final stages of his recovery from injury Hassan is currently Celtic’s best winger.

But O’Neill has been chopping and changing his front three all season in an attempt to find the most effective unit.

O’Neill’s determination to start with Kasper Hogh has forced Camilo Duran out right and Hassan onto the bench.

Duran is the best striker, Hassan the best winger.

Clearly there was no big picture of how Celtic should play. It has been a case of signing good players then trying to find a way to get them effective on the park. So far it has failed as results prove.

Since he doesn’t speak English and is coming to terms with life in Glasgow why wasn’t he signed in January, or June 1 ahead of the World Cup Finals.

Celtic’s failure to forward plan and last minute approach to transfers is almost baking them in to failure.

Players arrive late, are ill prepared for the most important matches of the season and fail to hit top form.

Those issues are far more important than the perception of a player based on the transfer fee leaked by Celtic.