Former Celtic striker Andy Walker thinks Neil Lennon will regret that the club did not sign an experienced player in January to help our Europa League chances in the second half of the season, speaking to Sky Sports.
Celtic, as we all know, were dumped out of Europe by Copenhagen on Thursday night after a disastrous defensive performance.
While all our efforts will not optimistically go into domestic challenges ahead, there’s no doubt it was a tough result to take, leaving some fans wondering about the quality of this Hoops side at that level.
Walker thinks there is a direct relationship between the exit and our underwhelming January transfer window, which resulted in just two so far largely unseen 21-year-olds joining the first-team squad.
As quoted by Sky Sports, he said: “I’m sure Neil Lennon would have preferred for the club to have made a good signing in the January transfer window, someone that might have helped them in Europe, someone that might have improved their starting eleven.
“But it wasn’t to be, they signed another couple of younger players and there’ll be no criticism of the board from Neil Lennon, that’s not part of the deal.
“I think he would have preferred to have had a bit of experience in, to give him a bit of help.”
Could Celtic have done more?
The January window is a notoriously difficult one for Celtic to navigate. It’s hard to think of many instances in which a player arrives to make an immediate impact on that season’s first-team.
Whether that’s down to club inaction or the realities of the market itself during the month, there’s no doubt that fans have felt frustration more often than not coming out of the winter window.
The centre-half position did look weak heading into January, especially with the hindsight that Lennon was planning to switch to a back three in the majority of our matches.
Another experienced defender in the mould of Christopher Jullien couldn’t have hurt the manager’s options heading into the Copenhagen tie.
While he is hardly going to be slating the board, there may be truth to the fact Lennon may have wanted more, especially taking into account his comments in early January.
The manager has stressed though that the exit was a result of team-wide game management problems rather than the fault of an individual or two.
Walker’s comments actually ring pretty true, but nobody apart from Celtic knows what went on behind the scenes and what efforts were made to add quality to the squad.
Given our continuing imperious form in domestic action, there has to be some sort of trust that the football and recruitment departments are working harmoniously.
What do you make of Andy Walker’s comments? Should Celtic have gone for experience in the transfer window? Share your thoughts below in our discussion forum…
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
