I listened to Champions League winner and former Celtic captain Paul Lambert when he spoke to the Scottish Football Podcast (BBC Scotland) over the weekend. Like so many Celtic fans he believes the current Celtic squad isn’t good enough and that the club need to invest in the recruitment infrastructure.
Celtic have only brought in one new face so far this summer with Camilio Duran arriving and scoring 2 goals from 2 games in pre-season. Maybe this will remind the Celtic board how important it is to get players signed early so they are up to speed for both domestic and European campaigns come August.
Alex Oxlade Chamberlain has re-signed after a short term deal last season. Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson is struggling to sign players because he can not deal with Agents.
In this day and age every footballer has an agent so I think he should re-think his career as Celtic need someone in the building capable of dealing with agents and get deals over the line.
The micro management of Dermot Desmond of everything that happens at the club will not be helping him either and Martin O’Neill’s charm with the media can only last so long if he is not backed in this transfer window. The Celtic manager spoke after the Middlesborough game and hinted that some deals for players may get over the line this week.
Lambert also had a pop at Daizen Maeda for only turning up for the last six games of the season. Maeda is looking to head south to England and pastures new since that remarkable end to the season.
Maeda was signed by Ange Postecoglou and since the Australian’s time at the club Celtic have struggled to sign first team ready players through a failed recruitment system which has been without a head of recruitment since Paul Tisdale was sacked after the Wilfried Nancy fiasco back in January.
Postecoglou has joined another former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers in Saudi Arabia and the transfer window opens on Wednesday 22 June over there. With the state of play the way it is at Celtic, Callum McGregor may be tempted to join one of his former managers and make the switch which would see him earn a big payday and weaken further the Celtic first team playing pool.
Lambert went onto say ““If you don’t spend, you stand still,” “That’s always the key. You have to improve.
“I have seen Celtic; they are nowhere near good enough at this moment in time. Nowhere near it. I think everybody recognises it and knows it.
“The manager knows it, and whatever players come in and help them. That’s why I said they need ready-made players.
“The infrastructure has to be so important for them to do that. But they need ready-made players who know how to win football matches, because you won’t get away with it. Not this time.”
Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes Celtic Fanzine & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast
https://youtu.be/OIgBdnGOWz4?si=JdSFN5ScrLu1A9Ye
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