Brendan Rodgers has admitted he understands why Celtic supporters view the club’s late scramble for free agents as poor planning, saying he shares their frustration over how the summer unfolded.
The Hoops manager was asked if he sympathised with fans who felt the club had failed to show proper succession planning after going into the free-agent market on deadline day. His response was unequivocal.
“Absolutely. That frustration is shared. We all felt that. Absolutely. It’s why, months out, we’ve spoken about what we need in the squad, and so yeah, I totally get that,” Rodgers said on Celtic TV.
“The support has the passion and the commitment and the drive, and that’s what keeps us honest as a team and as a club, because the expectation on us every day is to come in here and improve and get better, because we’re expected to do that for the supporters. So they keep us honest; they keep us driving and pushing, and that’s the way it should be.”
Celtic ended the window with Kelechi Iheanacho as their only new centre-forward, arriving as a free agent after Adam Idah departed without a direct replacement, while there was no striker brought in to replace Kyogo, who had left in January. Nicolas Kuhn also left without a cover being brought in, leaving Rodgers to work with a thinner squad than he had at the start of the summer. He can’t keep pulling the club forward if he’s not given the bare minimum in the transfer market.
With a Champions League exit to Kairat Almaty and fan protests now underway, Rodgers’ comments reflect a clear acknowledgement of where frustrations lie and his willingness to side with supporters in demanding higher standards from the club’s transfer strategy.
Something has to give – Celtic can’t continue to do business like this. It hasn’t worked, isn’t working, and won’t work.
