Rodgers and the 2024 Celtic Signings Review

Across all levels of discussion about Celtic there is a growing narrative that the signings made by Brendan Rodgers during the summer of 2024 were a waste of money.

Arne Engels and Adam Idah are the main targets, costing a combined total of £20m with one third of that figure down to Michael Nicholson’s negotiating skills. Neither player was signed in time for the pre-season training camp in the USA which included three friendly matches.

Engels was signed as a 20-year-old following 18 impressive months in Germany, two days after signing for Celtic he made his debut in a Glasgow Derby. Soon after the final whistle he was away on international duty then made a scoring debut in the Champions League before September was out.

Not too shabby, especially compared to the job-lot of duds handed to Rodgers the previous summer.

Idah played a massive role in delivering the double in season 23/24 while on loan from Norwich. Despite being third choice striker at Carrow Road no buy-out option was included in his Celtic loan deal.

The Irish international striker reported back for pre-season training at Norwich, took stick from fans in friendly matches then joined Celtic following their first two SPFL Premiership matches had been played. Perhaps it was a shoulder injury to Kyogo Furuhashi away to Hibs that forced Nicholson into action.

Some people have short memories. Invincible Treble, Multiple Trophies won and some good European performances (Man City for example). Face facts, we’re a business – for managers a stepping stone to the EPL. Managers will come and go, the days of manager loyalty are long gone.
— Name Cannot Be Blank (@usernamebhoy) June 12, 2023

A certain Peter M trying to stir it up before Brendan had even been appointed Celtic fans short memories slaughtering BR for the way he left etc etc…..but not a word about his Pal Peter Lawwell whom drove BR out the door last time and his face spoke a thousand words today!!!
— John H (@JohnHutchi1888) June 23, 2023

Signing players like shved rather than mcginn final straw , just hope he gets backed
— Paul Kerr (@PaulKerr123) June 12, 2023

Over the last few months Engels, Idah and Auston Trusty have been on the end of increasing criticism from Celtic supporters, it seems that the tail off in performances across the whole team was entirely down to the summer signings. Rodgers doesn’t know a player, he was also hopeless first time around at signing players.

Deep breath time. Odin Thiago Holm, Yang Hyun-jun, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Marco Tilio, Gus Lagerbielke, Maik Nawrocki and Luis Palma started THIRTEEN SPFL matches in the season just ended. Yang started in two cup matches. From seven transfer fees and five year contracts handed out in the summer of 2023 the contribution was virtually nothing.

Yet you will barely read any criticism of that batch of signings, the players seem to get a free pass while those behind the recruitment and decision making are given a free hit.

Celtic’s biggest success in the season just finished was in the Champions League, winning 12 points from eight matches and taking Bayern Munich into stoppage time for a place in the last 16.

A far cry from Malibor, Malmo, AEK Athens, Club and Ferencavaros.

That Champions League campaign was heavily dependent on players signed by Brendan Rodgers during 2024.

Nicolas Kuhn started in all 10 matches scoring three goals, Engels made 10 appearances scoring one goal and creating three assists, Idah started in three Champions League matches, came off the bench seven times and scored three goals. His contribution to the own goal by YB Bern turned the perception of the campaign into a success.

Celtic’s most impressive European performance was away to Atalanta on matchday 3, Rodgers altered things from the humiliation in Dortmund to get a 0-0 draw away to one of the leading lights in Serie A.

The Celtic team that night? Schmeichel; Johnston, Trusty, Scales, Valle; Hatate, Engels, McGregor, Kuhn, Idah, Maeda. Six players signed by Rodgers, not a sniff of a contribution from the disastrous summer 2023 signings.

Alongside the home win over RB Leipzig that draw in Atalanta showcased Celtic in Europe, Rodgers can adapt, he can spot and develop players. Perhaps if Engels, Idah and Trusty had been signed in June, undergone pre-season training with their new team-mates a couple more Champions League points could have been won. That 0-0 draw away to Dinamo Zagreb could have been a victory, as could the home draw with Brugge.

Despite that the trend among pundits and on social media has been to trash the signings made in 2024.

From the moment Nicholson high-fived the sale of Kyogo in January everyone at Celtic switched off, the foot came away from the accelerator.

Since the Champions League draw in Munich, read that again, yes, 1-1 away to Bayern Munich, everyone at Celtic has taken their lead from the boardroom and dropped down a gear.

Not just Idah and Engels.

Alastair Johnston and Cameron Carter-Vickers have turned in substandard performances. Daizen Maeda never scored in his last six matches, occasionally Callum McGregor dropped below his usual eight or nine out of 10 levels.

All of them contributed greatly to Celtic’s success over the season. They’ll hopefully be back for more next season, they are all seasoned winners, successful Celts.

Rodgers’ signings played a huge role in earning the club £40m directly from UEFA. Throw in five home sell-out matches alongside hospitality spin-offs and bonus payments from sponsors and they have more than justified being signed.

And all that with loose change left over from the sale of Matt O’Riley.

In January Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail wrote:

Last summer the men in grey suits were harangued into flashing the cash. They came under serious pressure from all corners – this one included – to show a bit of ambition. As Danilo slotted home the third Rangers goal on a day of staggering ineptitude, they must have been grappling around their trouser pockets in search of the receipts.
They didn’t pay £9million to watch Adam Idah flailing around like a bin bag on the M8 for the last 20 minutes of games.
They didn’t shatter their transfer record for a second time to watch their under-the-weather £11m signing Arne Engels blow his nose on the substitutes’ bench.
Auston Trusty? He lasted 45 minutes of the Premier Sports Cup final, contracted a touch of flu and, bizarrely, hasn’t been seen since. He cost £5.5m.
There’s no need to spend £26m to roll over St Johnstone, Ross County and St Mirren. Celtic could do that for a fraction of the cash.

Try facing Leipzig, Atalanta or Club Brugge with Nawrocki, Kwon, Tilio and Yang on your teamsheet.

No-one was more horrified about the prospect of Rodgers returning that Paul67, the mastermind behind Celtic Quick News, ahead of the announcement he didn’t hold back on his scathing views of the Celtic manager with the greatest trophy winning percentage, excluding Wim Jansen’s incredible season in charge.

First up with Rodgers on the brink of taking over from Ange Postecoglou, Paul 67 reassured CQN readers:

If nothing else, the club have been thorough this time. Candidates have been interviewed, including Brendan, who is without an employer, but there has been no rush to appoint.
Despite having a strong offering and good applicants, there is nervousness at board level, these decisions have huge consequences.
All you and me know for sure is that the decision has not been made, despite affirmation to the contrary. There’s no way Celtic are sitting on a decision.

Two days earlier he really put the boot in on CQN with:

Brendan was a winning Celtic manager. If, as reported, he was interviewed, you’d better believe he has invested some capital in even being considered. The way he behaved at Liverpool, then Celtic, and his lack of structural legacy at both these clubs and at Leicester, means Brendan has a bit of a reputational challenge going forward. Even being considered by Celtic would do him good.
I don’t see it going any further than this, though. We’ve seen what an actual great manager can do. One that leaves a legacy of a valuable squad. One that never considered short-term loans as part of his modus operandi. A team player in every sense.

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