IT still seems inconceivable that Celtic won’t gradually ease away from the chasing pack to clinch an eighth successive league title. Rangers, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock have all demonstrated impressive staying power to remain, theoretically, in contention at this juncture of the campaign, but Celtic’s track record and greater consistency – as well as the other three cutting each other’s throats during the run-in - should be enough to see the champions comfortably over the line, probably once again by double digits come the finally tallying-up.
Still, it’s always worthwhile planning ahead in case of emergencies which may go some way towards explaining Brendan Rodgers’ increasingly apparent frustration of late with Celtic’s strategy in the transfer market. In that regard, the business conducted by the club between now and the window closing on Thursday night could prove hugely telling, both in how this season turns out but also in shaping the long term futures of both Rodgers and chief executive Peter Lawwell.
Should Celtic somehow fail to win the title this season, the finger-pointing will begin before the new champions have even lifted the trophy. Neither Lawwell nor Rodgers will be spared. The manager will be criticised for failing to sufficiently motivate the most expensively-assembled squad in the country over the line in, based on respective budgets alone, what ought to be a one-horse race.
Lawwell will get it in the neck for not providing the players his manager needed to ensure no rival could come close to impinging on Celtic’s domestic supremacy. Should that situation come to pass and Scotland crowns a new champion for the first time since 2011 – and possibly the first outside of Glasgow since 1985 – one or both men could well pay for that failure with their jobs.
Rodgers comments on transfer business, then, could be interpreted as him insulating himself in case that worst-case scenario arises. Or it may also be another tacit reminder to the supporters that his own long term-ambitions match their own and, if those aren’t realised, then the manager shouldn’t be the one to carry the can.
Rodgers’ stated aim upon his appointment in the summer of 2016 was for Celtic to become regular patrons of the last 16 of the Champions League. That ambition looks further away than ever, thanks partially to Uefa’s obstructive stance towards clubs from smaller nations but also because of Celtic’s own failings. Next month’s Europa League last-32 tie against Valencia will add a splash of glamour to a campaign deprived of Champions League football but nobody will be fooled that it can be considered the equal of the real thing.
Celtic have adopted a frugal approach twice before in recent times and just about got away with it. With Rangers out of the picture and stumbling around in the lower leagues, Lawwell entrusted the unheralded Ronny Deila to keep the pot boiling over for two seasons from 2014. The Norwegian duly delivered back-to-back titles although Aberdeen made it a lot more uncomfortable than it really ought to have been.
This season, the hesitation in moving for John McGinn allowing Aston Villa to steal a march has not been forgotten either, most notably by the manager who bristled at every subsequent mention of the summer transfer window and what might have been for Celtic. Again, that has so far not been to the huge detriment of Rodgers’ side although, that they have yet to open up a gap at the top, could be considered a slight cause for concern.
A second successive transfer window not concluding to the manager’s satisfaction, however, could have far-reaching ramifications. Asked about Maryan Shved, the Ukrainian winger expected to sign this week, Rodgers’ remark that “we’ve got a million wingers, we don’t need another” was a pointed message to his directors. His subsequent admission on Friday that he “wasn’t in the conversation” with regards to Scott Brown, his captain, possibly leaving the club also touched upon an element of discord within the corridors of Parkhead.
Rodgers cannot say he has not been backed by his board this month – Oliver Burke, Timothy Weah, and Vakoun Issouf Bayo have all arrived, the first two on loan – but he will probably remain dissatisfied if Celtic fail to add at least a proven right-back before Thursday’s deadline. It could almost be considered negligent in the circumstances.
Too many grievances and disappointments and any manager would likely start to consider his options. Rodgers has a contract until 2021 - the year when the fabled 10-in-a-row would be realised were Celtic to keep winning the title each year - but speculation that he would be the favourite for the post were Claude Puel to leave Leicester City hasn’t gone away. With the 2016 Premier League champions safely ensconced in mid-table, that could prove a very appealing alternative should he start to grow weary after three years in Scottish football.
These are all mostly hypothetical scenarios for now. Even without adding any more to the squad before the deadline, Celtic should still finish this season as champions again and all this mid-season disharmony will be largely forgotten about. But for a club recently announced by Deloitte as among the 50 richest in the world, not making that eventuality 100 per cent certain seems an unnecessary risk to take.
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