Celtic’s European record over the last decade has been really poor. In fact, over the last ten years or so it has been abysmal.
It pains me to say it as a Celtic fan but there’s no sugarcoating it. Not since Neil Lennon qualified from the Europa League as group winners have Celtic done anything of real note in any European competition.
The Celtic fans look back fondly at the memories Martin O’Neill, Gordon Strachan and Lennon himself delivered but with the money involved in the game now, Celtic are being left further and further behind.
However, discussing Europe and Celtic’s transfer business, pundit Mark Guidi suggested that Rodgers will be convincing his current top stars to make their mark in Europe and stay at Celtic for a couple of seasons as well as encouraging the board to sign players who can make an impact in Europe.
Because Celtic have the money, and that is something that worries former Rangers midfielder, Barry Ferguson.
Ferguson said [The Go Radio Football Show], “I hope the Celtic board are not listening because that worries me.
“But I get the point that obviously, they have got the money. No doubt about it. Maybe Brendan Rodgers is the one to twist their hand and open the chequebook.
“But I hope not.”
Can Brendan Rodgers convince the Celtic board to spend big?
You would like to think so. The summer transfer window, although Rodgers added eight fresh faces, was a damp squib.
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There was no marquee signing like the Celtic fans witnessed the previous summer when Ange Postecoglou spent £12m on Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Unknown players were added as the project additions grew but as for first-team ready players? With the exception of Luis Palma, there were none.
In fact, it was telling that none of Rodgers’ summer signings finished the 0-0 draw with Hibs on Saturday. That tells a story within itself about Celtic’s summer recruitment.
So January not only should be better, it needs to be better. Because with Hatate out, there are genuine questions on who could replace a player with such quality.
And what would the fallout be if Celtic lost Kyogo and it was left to Hyeongyu Oh to fill that void? The season’s prospects could look really shaky.
In other news, ‘He’s clever’: Tam McManus says 24-year-old striker is good enough to sign for Celtic or Rangers