A lot can be learned from Celtic’s recruitment over the last five years.
Five years ago, immediately after a disastrous 2020-21 campaign marked by some awful signings, Ange Postecoglou and Dom McKay oversaw one of the best windows in Celtic’s history.
A freakishly good hit-rate saw the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Josip Juranovic and Jota brought to Glasgow, before Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Matt O’Riley followed in January.
A similar extent of refreshing is needed for the Celtic squad this summer, under the unlikely stewardship of Martin O’Neill.
What would be your one message to Martin O’Neill about Celtic’s upcoming transfer window?
Celtic can’t be afraid of taking risks this summer
It’s fair to say that this season’s January transfer window, overseen by O’Neill and Shaun Maloney, was not a success.
It’s said the dismissal of the January groundwork done by Paul Tisdale led Maloney and the recruitment staff to rely on agent recommendations.
READ MORE: Stephen Welsh set for Swansea City move after Celtic exit
Tisdale himself had overseen a disastrous window which led to the resignation of Brendan Rodgers, who said that he had been left feeling “empty” after Deadline Day.
Ironically, Kelechi Iheanacho, a man brought in due to a pre-existing relationship with Rodgers as a last resort, ended up being a significant figure in the season long after the Irishman was gone.
Less successful were the signings of Hayato Inamura, Shin Yamada and Michel-Ange Balikwisha. The former pair were reportedly identified by Tisdale, and met with little enthusiasm by Rodgers.
Of Balikwisha, Rodgers said in September: “He’s a really technically gifted player. He has great football qualities. We thought Daizen was gone, so we needed to make sure we were covered. Obviously, we weren’t able to get what we wanted on the right side.”
Read into that what you will.
It’s all reflective of a club with a leadership crisis, constantly shifting between strategies. O’Neill can’t sort this out alone.
What they learned the hard way in January is that simply taking out-of-favour players from major European leagues won’t cut it.
Which players are likely to depart, given that Martin O’Neill will stay?
Join the debate, Celtic fans…🍀👇
Martin O’Neill on Celtic’s rebuild
Speaking about this summer’s rebuild back in April, O’Neill said: We will have to try and act relatively quickly on players.
“On the larger picture, yeah, I’m looking at this minute at players, but it is strange, because I’m more focused on the matches here.
“So, if you’ve got a spare hour, the scouts are in there, they’re looking at a lot of things, which they should be doing anyway.
“This is the point. Let’s say somebody steps in during the first week of June or something, then [the scouts] should be able to put a lot of this forward to him and say, ‘This is what we’re doing, this is the general consensus that these players are really good’.
“And then it’s up to him to have a look at these players and see.
“If I have seen them and, let’s say by some miracle that I did stay on, then at least I would have an idea about them, but the focus for me at this minute has to be on these last five games.”
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