Brendan Rodgers looked like a broken man when he was asked for his thoughts on Celtic’s January transfer prospects.
Back in the summer he had brimmed with enthusiasm when he explained how impressed he had been by the brilliant work carried out by Mark Lawwell in recruitment. That factor had been key to the Irishman returning to the job he quit in February 2019.
As the summer evolved Celtic fans were served a diet of project signings from Australia, South Korea, Norway and other outposts. Of the seven only a Honduran playing in Greece has made a positive impact with more and more expected of the diminishing core built up under Ange Postecoglou.
Up until mid-August hopes remained that two good quality signings could be made but ahead of the League Cup Final defeat at Kilmarnock Rodgers explained that the process was that he simply coached the players provided by the mysterious Lawwell Mini.
Despite the claims of Celtic and Lawwell Mini on Linkedin there isn’t a shred of evidence to support the claim that he was Head of Scouting and Recruitment at the City Football Group. Even if that claim was true the needs of Celtic for the Champions League are far different to Yokohama F Marinos and Melbourne City.
With European football ending in a tame 2-0 defeat to Lazio, sitting in mid-table in Serie A Rodgers suddenly started talking about his transfer aspirations, when he took on the manager’s job he wanted four quality signings- before losing Jota, Carl Starfelt and Aaron Mooy.
It appears that there are no signings in the pipeline, hopes of an improvement in performances are dependent on inspired form from Liel Abada, Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda from injury.
Expectations for the January transfer window could barely be lower, it seems like the Managed Decline is fully in place after the excitement and expectations of springtime.
Rodger’s response to my question on summer recruitment and plans for January.@ACSOMPOD pic.twitter.com/iK5tztD3nH
— Asim Rabbani (@asimrabbani) December 12, 2023
QUESTION: Looking back would you say that you are satisfied by the summer activity and are you confident that in January you’ll be able to get the four quality, first team ready players that you mentioned in terms of experience and quality in general.
RODGERS: Listen, I don’t need to look back, the players were signed, they’re in here, they may not be for now, they’re players that might down the line become really good players for Celtic.
When you come into a club like Celtic at 20 years of age it can be a challenge, the adaption, if you are coming from a different country, it can be tough.
So, those guys have signed long contracts, some of them, and hopefully in that time they can show that they can be Celtic players.
Looking forward, of course we want to improve the squad and I think that we’ll do that with 1, players that are coming back that can prove influential for us and hopefully, if the right players are available, hopefully we can look to improve key areas that we would like to.
Sunday when asked about signings in January he switched it to players coming back from injury and he’s done the same today RED 🚩
— celtic jaime 🍀 (@jaimelawson08) December 12, 2023
Brilliant question Asim.
Deeply discouraging response. The club are refusing to acknowledge that we didn’t improve the first 11 in anyway during the summer and he wasn’t exactly confident sounding about January.
— Mordecai67 (@MordecaiFly) December 12, 2023
What he didn’t say said more than he actually did. Won’t be surprised if he hits the trail again at the first opportunity.
— TimBuffy47 (@Timbuffy47) December 12, 2023
That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence
— Bhoy in Red 🇵🇸 (@BhoyinRed) December 12, 2023
Good question. Mealy mouthed response suggesting the Board have had a word about managing expectations
— Charlie St Aubin (@CharlieAubin) December 12, 2023
that was like boris johnston answering a question
— tony montague (@Tonybhoy66Tony) December 12, 2023
So the players brought in under lawell JNR not good enough,there’s a surprise a 33 year old novice,previous experience,chief youth scout at the city group , now head of recruitment at Celtic.
This financially motivated model is killing the team along with any hope for the fans.— brian flynn (@brianflynn2) December 12, 2023
Good question but I was no filled with confidence by Brendan’s response, he looks like a man who knows the board will let him down
— kevin lanaghan (@KevinLanaghan) December 12, 2023
That’s it confirmed. He’s deffo not getting any decent players in, mine loan some mug that sits on the bench of a lower table prem team
— SoupTurd (@PatMust63185335) December 12, 2023
If the right players are available speaks louder than words. It’s not happening is it
— Glenn (@KettellGlenn) December 12, 2023
