New Celtic CEO Dom McKay has clearly made it a priority to make more fan-pleasing decisions than his predecessor.
Whether it be increased communication with fan-media, or making grand promises about modernisation, he knows how to hit the fans’ sweet spot.
Of course most of it has been just words. Whilst McKay has welcomed the chance to engage with supporters and fan-led outlets, there’s a lot of work to be done before he wins the fanbase over. He’ll have their support, but only action and success will affect his legacy – not promises.
However, one thing that appears to be evident this summer is the desire to get business done early. A change in policy that would be most welcome and would give us the best chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.
During the Neil Lennon era, his work with Peter Lawwell in the transfer market was nowhere near urgent enough. Celtic went into their first Champions League qualifier of the UCL in 2019/20 understaffed at centre-back and right-back. This led to the likes of Kris Ajer playing on the right side with no viable alternatives to Nir Bitton and Jozo Simunovic at the back.
Last year wasn’t much better. Celtic were short up top, at left-back, and at centre-back heading into our Champions League tie against Ferencvaros. We didn’t even field a centre-forward in that tie either. Celtic would make three more signings after we were bundled out of the UCL.
Dom McKay ready to improve Celtic transfer urgency; supporters
This season, however, McKay appears ready to make instant signings for our assault on Europe. Ange Postecoglou stated that he was pushing the club as hard as he could on Friday [Celtic YouTube]. This was then followed by McKay stating that the club was ready to invest in the squad.
Since then, a host of names have been linked with Celtic in priority positions. Reports from Croatia believe the Hoops are close to signing Mario Vuskovic for a start. That would instantly help boost the centre-back situation we have at Parkhead [Sportske Novosti].
A report from the Daily Record last night named eight players Celtic are said to be eyeing up. Again yet more evidence that McKay understands the urgency in bringing in players immediately.
That’s not to say Celtic won’t be working up until late in the window. But you can tell the club isn’t waiting for August before they start getting serious with their business. McKay looks ready to learn from the success of his predecessors and not underestimate the sides we can come up against in Europe.
Complacency has cost Celtic so often in the past. A flat out belief that our squad is good enough to handle anything in the qualifiers just isn’t on. Lawwell waited far too long to sanction signings for the football club. Even those who arrived before the qualifiers would somehow take weeks to get up to speed.
This is a policy that McKay seems ready to change. Should he pull it off, it’ll be yet another positive for his relationship with the Celtic supporters.
In other news, Ko Itakura could miss Celtic’s Champions League qualifiers should he sign.
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