It was December 31, 2021. Ange Postecoglou was not even six months into his Celtic project and the season still felt fragile.
Results were inconsistent. Performances flickered between promise and frustration. Celtic had already trailed the previous season’s champions Rangers by seven points at one stage, and belief among the support was still being rebuilt after a miserable year behind closed doors.
What people forget now is how uncertain it all felt heading into that January.
Then came Hogmanay.
As supporters prepared to ring in the New Year, Celtic detonated a moment that shifted the entire season. Not one signing. Not two. Three. All at once.
The club statement dropped like a thunderclap. “Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of three exciting new players from the Japanese J League. Daizen Maeda from Yokohama F. Marinos, Yosuke Ideguchi from Gamba Osaka and Reo Hatate from Kawasaki Frontale will all be registered with Celtic in early January, subject to the usual conditions and international clearance.”
For a support conditioned to caution, delay, and drip-fed business, it felt almost unreal.
Three players. Early. Decisive. Ambitious.
Two of those signings, Maeda and Hatate, would go on to play pivotal roles in dragging Celtic through the second half of the season. Energy, intensity, clarity of role. Ange’s football finally had the tools it needed. Momentum followed quickly. Confidence surged. The league was taken by the throat.
Later in that window came Matt O’Riley, another transformative addition who elevated the midfield and raised the ceiling of the team again. Different circumstances, different profile, but equally important.
What mattered most was why it happened.
Those Japanese signings were Ange Postecoglou’s. He identified them. He trusted them. He pushed for them. The club backed him. Recruitment aligned with the manager’s vision and the payoff was immediate.
That is the standard.
Right now, Celtic find themselves at another crossroads. A new manager in Wilfried Nqancy. A season in need of direction. Confidence fragile. January looming once again.
What this squad and this support need is not vague promises or late-window scrambles. They need a statement. They need belief injected early. They need to feel the club moving with purpose.
An announcement like that Hogmanay night in 2021 would do more than add players. It would reset the mood. It would show intent. It would give the new manager real backing.
Do Celtic have it in them to act early and decisively this time?
I have my doubts. But if they want to turn this season around, history has already shown them exactly how to do it.
