Brendan Rodgers has brought three new summer signings to Celtic so far and the fans hope that there will be more to come.
With Adam Idah’s future at Norwich City under intense scrutiny, the expectation amongst the fans that he will join Paulo Bernardo who was unveiled by Celtic this week.
Viljami Sinisalo and Kasper Schmeichel have been found to replace Joe Hart and it is one of these two who former Celtic hero, Rab Douglas says will ‘thrive’ in games against Rangers.
Kasper Schmeichel is an ‘excellent signing’ for Celtic
Douglas was talking up the signing of Schmeichel who has already impressed the Celtic fans since his arrival when he said that for the club to be successful, the big Dane will be crucial to that.
Douglas said [The Sunday Post print edition page 76], “The fans will also be looking forward to seeing Kasper Schmeichel making his competitive debut. I think he is an excellent signing and will be rock solid this season.
“It was going to take someone very special to replace Joe Hart and Kasper ticked all the boxes. He is an international goalkeeper and captain of his country with over 100 caps.
“He has had a very successful career and won a league title with Leicester City and an FA Cup with them. I also played for Leicester City and it is a great football club. I was a wee bit unlucky with injuries when I went there but I’ve fond memories of my time there.
“Kasper was brilliant for Leicester and I’m sure he will be equally as good for Celtic. For any team to be successful they need to have a quality operator between the sticks and they have that in Kasper.”
Brendan Rodgers’ ‘shrewd’ signing to ‘thrive’ against Rangers
With a minimum of four games to play against Rangers, last season showed the Celtic fans that results against the Ibrox club proved crucial in the league title and Scottish Cup win.
In Joe Hart, the fans knew they had a big game player to handle these occasions and Douglas believes that Schmeichel will flourish in the red-hot atmosphere of the Glasgow Derby.
Douglas continued, “It’s a shrewd move by Brendan to bring him in. They know each other from Leicester and there is clearly a trust and respect between them. That’s important.
“The guys in the back four will be delighted to have Kasper behind them. That will give them great comfort to know that he is there and their goalkeeper.
“He will thrive on playing at this massive football club and also love the experience of the Champions League again and the games against Rangers.
“He will love it and the fans will love him. It’s the start of a great relationship, just as it was with Joe. Joe was a hero to the Celtic fans. I’ve a feeling Kasper will become a hero very quickly.”
With the first of the Glasgow Derby fixtures on the 31st of August, the Celtic fans don’t have too long to wait to see how Schmeichel will fare in the big game against our rivals.
At Celtic Park, the home advantage will be crucial to help drive Rodgers’ team onto an early season win over the Ibrox club and allow Celtic to get an early advantage over our rivals.
But for now, Kilmarnock awaits the Hoops where a win will already see a two-point advantage open up over Rangers at the top of the league.
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