Former Celtic hero Murdo MacLeod says Celtic need to make moves now, just like their rivals did back when their run was stopped at nine in a row.
MacLeod was part of the coaching team, playing assistant to Wim Jansen the year Celtic stopped their Glasgow rivals from surpassing Jock Stein and his Celtic side.
According to Murdo, it was evident Celtic’s rivals were already at work to get things going and build a squad for the next season in which they ended up winning.
The player turned pundit believes Celtic must now do the same and bring in the men who are going to be here next season as soon as possible so they can get the lay of the land.
“Dick Advocaat was a top manager already knowing he was coming into the job and trying to sign players he’d worked with.” Murdo told RecordSport.
“There was a really strong side getting put together. That’s got to happen at Celtic.
“Celtic has got to make sure they bring in players of better quality. That’s where they possibly let themselves down this year, spending a lot of money but very few signings turned out top class.
“I’m sure Wim versus Dick would’ve been an interesting challenge back then but we never found out.
“Anyone who knows Wim, once he makes up his mind that’s it. Obviously I spoke to him many times about staying on and I wasn’t alone.
“Other coaches and players were desperate for him to stay because he’d brought so much to the club.
“We worked so hard to get that team together and got stronger and stronger as the year went on.”
Celtic have John Kennedy in place until the end of the season but if there’s potential for a new man to come in sooner then it should be done.
If for whatever reason the new man can’t come in until the summer, surely the club could start executing their wishes in the meantime.
Have the club narrowed down their options and conducted interviews? They’re giving nothing away in the media.
We also have the added complication of a new chief exec still to come in. Peter Lawwell working his notice also presents obstacles to being prepared for next season. There’s a fear we’ll start building too late and have a very slow start to the season, seeing this term drip into next.
