The heavy toll of fixtures in the first half of the season is simply a fact of modern day football with few alternatives to the former Kilmarnock man thin on the ground.
I’m prepared for hopefully being able to bring some players in to add to the squad but on the same token it’s how I work, my faith and trust to develop players who are here is still there and that’s what I’ll also look forward to.
I have been really impressed with Daniel Kelly too. He is a young player, he has got good physicality and is naturally left-footed and he has good energy.
I can see Paulo is really enjoying his time here. He is improving and developing. Is the fee realistic? I’m not going to say what it is but, absolutely, otherwise it wouldn’t be in place.
So now it’s up to Kuhn to prove him correct. Quite simply, Rodgers has to stand and fall by signings. Every manager does.
We will take the chance to be strong because we need to get the players back into a rhythm again and also I will take the chance to involve some young players as well
It’s a situation as a manager where, if you care, you need to communicate with the player, try to understand and have empathy with the situation. He’s a very young guy so he needs help and support. I’m there for him.
Does that mean a ready-made, tried and tested player who would cost a great deal more money? I’m not disputing what he says. But I’m sceptical about who Celtic can sign in any position that is an upgrade and who’s not going to cost a lot of money.
I have regular dialogue with players but we obviously have to wait and see as well because some players may want to go out but, if we don’t get the players in that we need, then I have to ensure the squad is as strong as it possibly can be…
We’ll hopefully have some of the injured players back and maybe one or two in the door. Then we push on for the second half of the season.