Chris Sutton didn’t have to wait long for his latest prediction to come up trumps.
On Saturday morning he waned that Celtic were at least three players short of where they need to be.
At Kilmarnock today, a month before they return to the Champions League they were turfed out of the Viaplay Cup by Kilmarnock with barely a whimper.
The last time were in Europe they were knocked out by Connah’s Quay Nomads who won 2-0 on the dreaded plastic surface.
The pitch is a nightmare but last season Ange Postecoglou found ways to win 5-0 and 4-1, today Celtic barely tested the Kilmarnock goalkeeper who is on loan from Bournemouth.
Yesterday’s column…👇 https://t.co/yqWgFvYDJw
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 20, 2023
Even if Celtic had managed to retain last season’s squad they would have been in need of strengthening.
Carl Starfelt has been replaced like for like by Gustaf Lagerbielke and Maik Nawrocki but the other signings have been OK, none of them are starters.
Jota and Aaron Mooy haven’t been replaced in the manner that Josip Juranovic and Giorgos Giakoumakis were. At the turn of the year the replacements were in before the departures were concluded.
Sutton is fairly new to Celtic failing to build from a position of strength, while there is a Lawwell presence anywhere near the club doing the absolute minimum will always be the mantra.
With two Lawwell’s in the building fans are right to fear the worst with the quality of the team-sheet stripped down to ensure that there are cheers and dividends all round in the boardroom.
Can’t say it’s a huge shock Celtic losing… the squad is weaker than last season and that should never have been the case…
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) August 20, 2023
Brendan Rodgers has dipped quietly into the transfer market until this point.
But there are now less than two weeks to really start rattling on the window and making a proper noise because Celtic need it to happen. Let’s not waste words here. Celtic, for the levels the manager and the club are trying to reach, are stretched. It’s hardly what you would call breaking point, but the squad needs additions of quality to compete both in Europe and at home.
Rodgers is working towards that and I’m sure big players will be added within the next fortnight because, quite frankly, I think there simply has to be. And that’s even before anyone takes in the possibility of another top contributor following Jota and Carl Starfelt out of the door. Gustaf Lagerbielke is the sixth signing of the summer. It might be seen as a straight replacement for his countryman, but that can’t be accurate right now. It’s just not that simple.
He concluded with:
Put it this way, if Jota and Starfelt were still at the club, they’d be starting in Ayrshire. So that tells me, even without injuries, the squad is weaker now than the end of last season. Rodgers is trying to develop his new-look side and he is well capable of knitting things all together, but he needs to have the right building blocks. And, right now, I can’t help but think he’s at least three short.
With 10 trading days left in the window eyes are on Rodgers and the Recruitment Team to use readily available resources to strengthen the Staring XI. Today the signs are ominous.
1 Comment
by KC67
If new players aren’t brought in Lawwell better have the number of the company that supplied the barriers handy. Him and the dinosaurs on the board will need them.