Most of the reactions from Celtic fans to yesterday’s defeat at Ibrox were comments suggesting that the Bhoys can win their eighth league title in a row once they strengthen in January. I would ask those Celtic fans to think about the last time the Celtic board have had a good winter window.
Celtic clearly need to boost their squad for the second half of the season. For a club like Celtic to only have one striker available to them is embarrassing. The timing of the depature of Dembele has certainly hurt Celtic for the past few months. Celtic could really do with 3/4 new signings with players who can step straight into first-team action.
If you look at the board’s record in January over the past few years when it comes to doing this, it doesn’t make for exciting reading.
Kouassi Eboue, £2.8m from FC Krasnodar, 2017
Scott Bain, (loan) from Dundee, 2018
Jack Hendry, £1.2m from Dundee, 2018
Charly Musonda, (loan) from Chelsea, 2018
Lewis Morgan, £300,000 from St. Mirren, 2018
Kristoffer Ajer, undisclosed from IK Start, 2016
Colin Kazim-Richards, free from Feyenoord, 2016
Patrick Roberts, (loan) from Manchester City, 2016
Erik Sviatchenko, £1.5m from Midtjylland, 2016
Carlton Cole, unattached, Oct 2015
Michael Duffy, undisclosed from Derry City
Stuart Armstrong, £1.75m from Dundee United 2015
Gary Mackay-Steven, £250,000 from Dundee United 2015
Leigh Griffiths, £1m from Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2014
Stefan Johansen, £2m from Stromsgodset, 2014
Holmbert Fridjonsson, £100,000 from Fram Reykjavik, 2014
Viktor Noring, (loan) from Trelleborgs FF, 2013
Rami Gershon, (loan) from Standard Liege, 2013
Tom Rogic, £400,000 from Central Coast Mariners, 2013
Sure, the likes of Rogic, Griffiths, and Armstrong and one or two others have gone on to be massive players for the club. But, none of them were instant hits. Robbie Keane springs to mind when you think of the goals he scored in half a season, he had that instant impact. But he was still only ticking off a box on his career and never likely to stick at Paradise.
Celtic still have the best players in the league by a long shot. This season when players have not brought their full game they have been punished. Punished by Hearts, Kilmarnock, Hibs, and Rangers* yesterday. Celtic haven’t lost a game when they have been at their best. They have blown teams away when they are at their best. This season they are nearly beating themselves.
