Brendan Rodgers has told Celtic supporters that his ambitions for the club match theirs as the Bhoys prepare for a critical January transfer window.
Rodgers has spoken plainly about his squad’s need for added quality for weeks now.
He was quizzed on transfers at a media conference on Friday and didn’t shy away from the questions.
In fact, he sounds completely calm about the task ahead of him and the rest of the recruitment staff heading into a critical couple of months on and off the pitch.
At this point, supporters will only be soothed by actions, not words, but the Celtic boss is adamant that the club will back his desire to improve the squad available to him.
Brendan Rodgers on Celtic transfers
Rodgers said [Celtic YouTube]: “Supporters have every right to ask and demand the highest level of expectations and that’s what we demand here, also. I think there was an anticipation in the summer that a number of players were going to move on, so replacement players were brought in. That didn’t happen and we ended up with a bigger squad than what we anticipated.
“There’s no doubt going forward now that the squad will come down in number and obviously we need to add quality. There’s no dressing it up. The group lost real quality players in the summer so that’s something over the coming windows that we will look to improve on.
“I think that the club has been so well run for so many years and from a domestic perspective that’s been highlighted in how the club has achieved. The next step is the European side and that’s why I came back, to hopefully be able to fulfil that in my time here.
“I felt when I came here in the summer that with the squad that was already in place from last season that we probably needed four players, and by that I meant four quality players to add to the squad.
“How the game works, you lose players and there were players that were earmarked to come in prior to me coming here. That’s absolutely fine, there’s no problem. We’ve got young talents here that will develop and grow and that’s the model of the club.
“To continue to improve and grow then you need to have players that are established because they help bring those players on. I’m very, very confident that we can do that over the coming windows.
“Supporters have every right, they want their team to be the very best they can be. If there is an opportunity to improve it in the January window then they will always like us to do that. Our ambitions are the same, as the manager of the club, we want to always be progressing.
“It is a club that is very forward-thinking and wants to improve. If there’s a chance in January we can do that I am pretty sure the club will give us every chance to improve the team.”
That’s probably all we need from the manager on transfers until Celtic actually start to do business or are close to getting deals over the line.
Rodgers has set out his desires and intentions, now it’s up to the staff and money men at the club to deliver on that.
It couldn’t be clearer what the Bhoys need.
In other news, Philippe Clement’s amusing excuses start early ahead of critical month for Celtic and Rangers.
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