The most frustrating thing about Celtic's goalless draw against Kairat Almaty was the fact that most fans were not surprised by the result. It is something that pretty much everybody had seen coming. The club made the confusing decision of not strengthening the squad heading into a tie of this magnitude. And they have paid the price for their mistake, something that pretty much everybody was afraid of.
Adam Idah failed to make an impact in the first half and was replaced at the break by Yang Hyun-jun. That in a nutshell just shows where this Celtic squad is at at the moment.
Of course, one can raise question marks about Brendan Rodgers as well as the players. And they deserve their fair share of criticism. But it is not their fault that Celtic did not give themselves the best chance possible of making it past this tie and into the Champions League.
This is not the first time that this has happened either. Celtic fans will remember how often they failed to make it to the Champions League before getting that automatic spot for three seasons in a row. Now, it feels like it is back to square one and nobody will be surprised if Kairat Almaty defeat the Hoops in Kazakhstan next week. In fact, there is a certain inevitability around that, whether you like it or not.
Brendan Rodgers makes frustrating admission about Celtic
Rodgers was very honest after the game against Kairat. As reported by The Celtic Way, he said:
"We've known for a long time what we've needed as a squad, so I don't want to go into that. I can only concentrate on what we have here. Of course, at the end of the game, we're having to shuffle things about to try and make it work and playing players out of position."
Well, it is not hard to understand why Celtic fans are unhappy with how this entire transfer window has been handled. But will that lead to any real changes?
It is hard to feel so. One thing is starting to become pretty clear though. There is very little chance that Rodgers will extend his contract at Celtic and to be honest, why should he?