Deja vu as Michael Nicholson’s failings halt the ambitions of Brendan Rodgers

With around 40 hours left in the transfer window it isn’t jumping the gun to say that Michael Nicholson has failed the Celtic manager.

Going into the transfer window in the strongest ever position thanks to delivery on the park the club CEO has achieved the almost impossible of emerging weaker from the transfer window.

Nicholson could make his critics look very foolish by 11pm on Monday February 3 by bringing in a raft of signings but it is unlikely that they’ll be on the Team Sheet against Bayern Munich nine days later.

The time for that was to have signings in the building ahead of January 1, not indulging in an SOS call to favoured agents in the last 48 hours of the transfer window.

It isn’t as if Nicholson doesn’t know how to complete a successful January Transfer Window.

1 January 2022 was the morning after Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi were signed, within a fortnight they were joined by Matt O’Riley. Two of those players were central to the 2 February 2022 victory in the Glasgow Derby that turned the title Celtic’s way.

That night opened the door to three successive seasons in the Champions League which should have cemented Celtic’s place in the second tier of European clubs, outside of those from the five richest nations but always capable and threatening.

The January 2022 Transfer Window was wholly generated by Ange Postecoglou and his agent Frank Trimboli. Nicholson was led by the hand through the steps, shown the tricks of the trade in contrast to the guidance that he’d had from Peter Lawwell.

In January 2021 Lawwell brought in Jonjo Kenny on loan, the previous year it was Patryck Klimala and Ismaila Soro.

Many will remember 2019 when Lawwell Productions conjured up Olli Burke, Timo Weah, Marian Shved and Vakoun Bayoo. With an eye to the future Manny Perez and Andrew Gutman were also snapped up, two rising stars that weren’t even eligible to work in Scotland but were signed anyway for whatever reasons.

Six years down the line it seems that Rodgers is blocking those type of signings, unfortunately it seems that the CEO doesn’t have the contacts to bring in higher quality alternatives. The memories of summer 2023 are still burnt onto the payroll even if half of those flops have been shipped out on loan.

It is well known throughout football that the Celtic CEO isn’t the decision maker when it comes to negotiating transfer deals, some might describe it as Phone A Friend before a final decision is made. In May 2022 Nicholson approved the appointment of Mark Lawwell as Head of Recruitment and Scouting based on the thinnest of CVs.

Rodgers will have to front things up with the media today with the long running interest in Mathias Kvistgaarden to be deflected away from, Kelechi Iheanacho turned out to be a six hour wonder that flew in the face of the strategy of selling Kyogo Furuhashi because he had turned 30. The former Leicester City striker is 28 and showing no sign of delivering on the promise he showed at Manchester City almost a decade ago. Only once in his career has Iheanacho reached double figures in a season.

Facing up to six matches between 2-18 February Rodgers has a squad that is stretched very thinly. He has one striker and one left-back plus a number of square pegs to force into round holes.

An injury to Adam Idah or Greg Taylor could be devastating. At Ibrox at the start of the month we saw the impact of having two players badly off form, the knock on effect can be grim.

That horrendous performance ought to have been the wake up call of all wake up calls for everyone inside Celtic, alas it seems to have been shrugged aside as the points lost were recovered in the next two matches.

Bayern Munich on February 12 and 18 promises to be every bit as brutal as the trip to Ibrox. The German side won’t ease up in a competition they start each season with expectations of winning.

Rodgers should be able to list a decent Starting XI  but as Bayern turn to their bench to provide an extra spark the Celtic boss will be looking at a cupboard that is almost completely bare other than two midfielders and one winger.

The manager has delivered on his part of the bargain. A week on Wednesday Celtic Park will host a fifth Champions League match of the season, takings will be around the £3m mark but on the pitch he has been sold short.

In August Celtic face two Champions League qualifiers where the progress of this season will be on the line.

From a position of strength Nicholson has created vulnerability and weakness. Once again an under resourced manager will be expected to bail out the strategic failings and laziness throughout the club.

It almost seems as if the CEO is looking to life after Rodgers and working with a manager that settles for the Europa League and creating an exciting domestic title race against teenage rivals living from crisis loan to crisis loan.

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