The picture at Celtic right now is very different going into this season than it was a just a year ago. Back then, very few fans had even slight hopes that the club would be able to compete with the Rangers in domestic competitions, having finished trophyless and 25 points behind the Ibrox club in the 2020/21 campaign. On top of that, the club had brought in a manager in Ange Postecoglou, who had never managed a top flight club in Europe before.
A year on, Celtic are the defending Premiership and League Cup champions while Postecoglou is already a cult hero amongst the supporters.
Thus, it would be safe to say that last season was a grand success for Celtic, much bigger than anybody could have anticipated. Not only did they have a thin squad, but they were also dealing with a series of injuries and it was a minor miracle that they were able to do as well as they did. But at the same time, it would be very difficult for them to succeed under similar circumstances this season.
Postecoglou seems to recognise that as well and Celtic have strengthened their squad depth this summer. As reported by The Scotsman, the manager said:
"“Our whole recruiting process so far has been about making our squad robust. If we had some fragility last season then it was around the fact it was too much of a burden on the individuals and we ended up breaking down and losing key players for large chunks of the season. So we want to avoid that this season. In many respects we got away with it last season.”"
Postecoglou offers brutally honest Celtic admission from last season
It is hard to argue with anything that Postecoglou said regarding the previous campaign. The club had a lot of problems in the first half of the season in particular and players had to often play out of position, or play constantly.
That had a direct hand in them getting injured so often and hopefully, with the additions that Celtic have made this summer, they will be able to get a lot more rest and as a result, stay fitter this season.
Let’s see how it goes from here on forward but things are certainly looking up for Celtic as of this moment.