This time last season we headed into the Champions League with the Celtic board snoozing at the wheel and hoping for the best with wing and prayer signings which frustrated Brendan Rodgers.  Both performances in the European qualifiers against Kairat where poor and the hangover hung around until Brendan left and Martin O’Neill came into steady the ship.

With pressure from the Celtic support on the shoulders of the Celtic board throughout all of last season it seemed as if they had learned nothing and stumbled through another poor transfer window in the winter after the Wilfried Nancy fiasco and Martin to his credit came back and performed miracles to win a double.

Transfer movement was moving too slow in the Summer for many Celtic fans but finally after moving on 3 players the Celtic board used the money from those sales to bring in two new strikers Duran and Hogh who have both started the season in fine form. Have the Celtic board finally learned their lesson that you need quality not quantity?

With the big lump of cash expected in for the departing Engels to West Ham the Celtic board were able to bring in Hassan and Baur ahead of the Champions League all or nothing clashes with Lask of Austria. The team better than last years opponents.

With some big earners moving off the wage bill and the players that have been sold, the Celtic board have managed to sign four players and still be able to lodge cash into the already bulging account.

The tax man will be licking his lips waiting for his cut of the profits but with more time to wheel and deal now is the time for them to loosen the purse strings to strengthen the Celtic midfield. Cover is also needed for left back and our No. 1 goalkeeper needs some competition for the jersey.

Martin O’Neill will miss Engels over the two legs and does not have a replacement in the current squad to cover the ground he did. Earlier in this article I asked the question have the Celtic board finally learned their lesson. Letting Engels go without a replacement ahead of two crucial Champions League qualifiers would suggest that they still have lessons to learn!

Martin O’Neill was reminded at the pre -match press conference that it is two decades since he managed Celtic in the competition. Let’s hope he can sprinkle some magic dust. If he can it will continue the feel good factor in the stands last weekend in Tannadice. Lask should pose a much more serious threat than Kilmarnock and Dundee United when we travel over there so a home win could be crucial.

Lets hope when we leave Celtic Park at full time that we are celebrating and looking forward to the second leg in Austria but without Engels the Celtic midfield is weaker.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast 

 

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It was great to see Martin O’Neill back in a tracksuit and back talking Celtic and looking forward to getting back into the Dugout at Tannadice on Saturday.

As he recovers from his recent small procedure he was able to visit the Celtic players  at the team hotel and spoke to them ahead of Sunday’s visit to Kilmarnock. He could not be in the dugout so Shaun Maloney took over his role. What a tonic he must have got watching how the Celtic players approached the game from the opening minute till the final whistle. An impressive performance.

He was critical of Celtic’s first half performance when he spoke to the media after the 1-0 home win over Dundee on Flag Night but the players responded in game number two on Rugby Park’s new grass pitch.

There was a lot of words written and spoke about Kasper Hogh after he signed for Celtic, becoming the most expensive player ever brought to the club for an estimated £11 million. He had plenty of chances against Dundee but failed to open his scoring account but we only had to wait less than a week for him to open that account. If he stays fit we should see him bang in the goals of on a regular basis.

It took him only 2 minutes to score his first of the afternoon and on the 35^th minute we were all celebrating his Hatrick. Not to be outdone by the new bhoy last season top scorer Nygren added to the tally to make it 4-0 after being gifted the ball by the Killie goalkeeper. Nygren on target again after scoring last weeks winner at Celtic Park.

The home side did pull one goal back but the game finished 5-1 after Luke McCowan came off the bench to score with his first touch of the ball. Not a bad afternoon.

Two new signings arriving will also have given the Celtic manager the perfect tonic ahead of the Tannadice and the big Champions League Night at Celtic Park next week.

Next Up Celtic are back on the road to Tannadice for a League Cup clash with Dundee United on Saturday for a 17:45 kick off. The game is live on Premier Sports 1.

Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast