Brendan Rodgers was asked about Celtic transfer spending in wake of Feyenoord defeat

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was quizzed about the club’s recently announced financial figures on Tuesday.

On Monday, Celtic released their annual financial results and there were some terrific findings.

Revenue was up by nearly 40% to £119.9m while profit before tax was £40.7m. The club had £72.3m in the bank.

Rodgers spoke to the written and broadcast media at Feyenoord’s De Kuip after our disappointing Champions League loss. When asked near the end about the financial results, he wasn’t too keen to chat.

“I just wanted to ask you about the club’s finances that were released,” came the question from a journalist. “How positive is that for the club? And when you see the record figures, does that make you think you’d like to have seen more invested in the summer? Or are you happy with all of the business you did?”

“It’s not for me to talk about right now,” Rodgers replied. (Scottish Football Podcast)

“I’m only thinking about the game. It’s great for the club, it shows the stability, how well it’s run, how well the board have done over a number of years.

“The strategy really works. But my job is to look after the football team.”

While the results released on Monday are obviously good news, the defeat in Rotterdam could shine a whole different light on them.

Given that we have over £72m in the bank, supporters may have expected to see the squad in a better state for Tuesday’s game. Sure, we have had plenty of injuries to contend with. But our starting line-up featured just two new signings, and Luis Palma is barely up to speed.

Peter Lawwell explained the importance of Celtic retaining a “cash buffer” earlier in the week. The idea is that if we drop down to the Europa League group stage in a future season, we have money built up to allow us to continue without having to cash in on key players.

But £72m seems an excessive amount for that, and it’s a pretty conservative plan anyway. Shouldn’t we be looking to speculate to accumulate?

Supporters aren’t looking for us to spend the £72m in one summer. But a bit of ambition would be nice. It would likely lead to fewer nights like Tuesday too.

In other news, 3 things we learned as Celtic lose to Feyenoord