It has been a sobering week for Celtic.
The Hoops travelled to Austria with a commanding 3-0 advantage over LASK and then extended that lead to four goals on the night, only to suffer an extraordinary collapse.
LASK eventually ran out 5-1 winners after extra time, sending Celtic crashing out of Champions League qualification and into the Europa League.
It was a result which exposed weaknesses in Martin O’Neill’s squad, with the transfer window now entering its final few days.
Celtic did at least return to winning ways at the weekend, beating Falkirk 2-1 in a game which the Hoops looked comfortable in for large spells.
But there remains a feeling that additions are required before the window closes, but just additions; they need to add real quality to the squad.
One position which could be addressed is goalkeeper.
Viljami Sinisalo has impressed domestically and looks more than capable of holding his own in Scottish football, but his performance against LASK raised questions over whether Celtic have enough quality between the sticks for the demands of European competition.
Balazs Toth remains one option.
The Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper continues to be of interest to Celtic, but the Scottish champions have yet to make a decisive move for the Hungary international.
According to RoversXtra, Blackburn are now looking to revive interest from other clubs as Celtic continue to hold off on meeting their valuation.
Alan Nixon reported that Celtic had carried out a “new and final check” on Toth… whatever that means.
Blackburn are understood to value the 28-year-old at around £4million, a figure Celtic are not currently expected to reach.
The Hoops appear to be trying to use the lack of concrete interest from elsewhere to their advantage. In other words, try to bargain with the selling club.
Celtic have the financial strength to make a move if they decide Toth is the right man to bring in, but their hesitation has so far prevented a deal from progressing to the decisive stage.
With the transfer window closing this week, time is beginning to run out.
But despite the Hoops’ deadline later than elsewhere this summer, the Europa League squad needs to be in a day before the summer transfer window slams shut, so the Hoops don’t have bags of time that some may think they do.
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