Celtic’s late comeback against Rangers at Ibrox Stadium was a ray of sunshine in what has been a gloomy season for the Hoops. The stalemate in the Old Firm derby mostly benefitted first place Heart of Midlothian, who are now six points ahead of their Glasgow adversaries at the top of the Scottish Premiership. With nine games left in their season, Hearts hope to repeat as champions, something they haven’t done since the 1950s.
But this article isn’t about them. It’s about Celtic, who remain stuck in third, two points behind Rangers. Fans will cry out that they have a game in hand on the blue team, with two matches this month against relegation-battling Dundee United. Make up the difference, and Celtic can still snatch Champions League play away from their hated rivals. They can beat Rangers in the Scottish Cup, too, during next week’s rematch at Celtic Park.
That’s good, because they’re already out of the Europa League, having been thoroughly outclassed by Stuttgart. If they can’t catch Rangers, the humiliation of the Europa Conference League will await them next season, as if finishing behind Rangers wouldn’t be bad enough.
Celtic's lack of attention on transfers is starting to cost them
They have no one to blame but themselves, really. Their last few transfer windows have seen an influx of names that fans of Europe’s bigger leagues would be hard-pressed to recognize. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has not stabilized a defense that is leakier than any of the other title contenders. Kelechi Iheanacho has played sparingly since his arrival. Loan signing Julián Araujo was beaten by Youssef Chermiti for Rangers’ second goal. And Hoops fans must have hit themselves in the head when the club announced the signing of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Gone are the days when the likes of Henrik Larsson suited up in the green-and-white shirt. Maybe Celtic can’t compete with the Saudi league for Karim Benzema or the suddenly cash-rich Brazilian league for Lucas Paquetá, but surely they could have put in a bid for Ethan Nwaneri instead of letting him go to Marseille this past January, or contested Ajax for Oleksandr Zinchenko.
That’s just from this past winter’s transfers. Before this season began, they might have scavenged off the relegated Premier League teams for the likes of Omari Hutchinson or Liam Delap, or tried to tempt Patrick Agyemang or Olivier Giroud away from MLS. Maybe they could have taken Kevin de Bruyne off Manchester City’s hands, or tested City’s desire for Rayan Cherki.
Celtic still have the old British model of management, where the manager not only coaches the team but also is in charge of transfers. Given that the current manager is 74-year-old Martin O’Neill, it may be time to leave him to concentrate on coaching duties and appoint a director of football operations or someone else to oversee new acquisitions.
Regardless, Celtic’s unambitious current transfer policy can’t continue, unless they want to continue seeing other clubs crowned champions of Scotland.