Chris Sutton has delivered a blistering assessment of Celtic’s summer strategy following their goalless draw with Kairat Almaty, accusing the board of taking the “biggest gamble of them all” by failing to back Brendan Rodgers in the transfer market ahead of a crucial Champions League play-off.
Celtic have seen seven new players walk through the door, with the highest fee spent £1.5m on a striker that the manager clearly doesn’t rate too highly.
Kieran Tierney is the only player to walk through the door and add quality to the side. You could make the argument for Nygren, but many thought that Arne Engels should have started midweek.
The former Celtic striker pulled no punches as he reacted to the first-leg result, questioning how the club allowed themselves to enter such a pivotal tie with glaring squad deficiencies.
“Don’t mind me, I’m just sitting here wearing my I Told You So T-shirt. Believe me, it doesn’t give me any pleasure,” Sutton wrote in RecordSport.
“In fact, I can’t actually get my head around how Celtic got themselves in this position.
“There are people who claim the Parkhead board are too cautious. I don’t see it that way.
“Not when they are taking the biggest gamble of them all by refusing to give Brendan Rodgers the proper tools going into this Champions League play-off.
“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. That’s the phrase that came to mind the other night.
“It was always going to be a tricky tie no matter who they got at this stage. But failing to replace Kyogo, Jota and Nicolas Kuhn was a self-inflicted own goal that’s now left them facing a huge task of getting away with it next week in Kazakhstan.
“Celtic might still get through. Even with the lack of attacking signings, they could still find a way of squeezing past Kairat.
“Yet the job has been made far tougher than it needed to be. It’s mind-boggling how they got here.
“I can’t work out if it’s complacency or incompetence, or maybe even arrogance.
“Did they think this squad was going to have enough to get through the tie and then they could go out and spend for the group stage? “
Did they not see the Scottish Cup Final? Did they fall asleep during the last three Rangers games?”
Brendan Rodgers has pointed to the club’s past practice of doing business late in the window, but supporters are no longer buying it. Fans want Celtic to begin the season with a squad strong enough to compete, not one scrambling for fitness, depth and quality just as the biggest fixtures arrive.
With just over a week left in the window, and qualification still hanging in the balance, Sutton’s comments echo the mood among the supporters who believe enough is enough.
