After Celtic bagged another win and three points under Martin O’Neill at Falkirk, the attention swiftly moved back to the January transfer window. It did not come on the back of a good performance though, and to be fair, the hosts deserved more from the game. But three points are what matter most right now, and it moved the club back into second place in the Premiership.
The game underlined again the urgent need to bring in quality players into the squad. And quite a few of them are required based on the Wednesday night showing.
Only a handful of players turned in decent performances, Kasper Schmeichel among them. The substitutions added little, and Reo Hatate, Johnny Kenny, and Luke McCowan fell well below what’s needed in their short spell on the pitch.
As ever, the most important element needed is some quality upfront, though strengthening all over the pitch is much needed. To bring that closer, there is a growing feeling, at last, that the club's recruitment process may be closing in on some forwards, or are at least trying to do so.
Celtic miss out on Scotland forward
That’s good news, especially if a couple of the suggested players linked, like Kieron Bowie, Franko Kovacevic, and David Datro Fofana, progress to signings. It’s not clear how many strikers are being sought, but a minimum of two seems to be the requirement. Quite what combination of established players, potential, and age profile the Hoops want remains to be seen.
At the same time, the available transfer market continues to narrow as one player previously rumoured as interesting to Celtic has now become unavailable. Was there any truth to links of the Hoops looking at Lyndon Dykes to fill a gap for the rest of the season? If so, then it’s fallen by the wayside as the Scotland international has left Birmingham City and struck a permanent deal with Charlton Athletic.
That should give Dykes’ World Cup credentials a boost as he wasn’t getting much game time at Birmingham City. The possibility of a move to Glasgow didn’t get much enthusiasm from fans, to be fair. His style of play isn’t quite what we want to see, even if a stronger presence in the box and the ability to hold up the ball and bring others into play might be.
Dykes does have those on his CV and O’Neill has been known to favour a physical striker in his forward line. Anyways, that possibility is now ruled out. Hopefully, the other players being sought can progress, and we’ll hear more positive and favourable news of a signing soon.