Celtic boss Martin O'Neill has issued a rather strange verdict on the club's Champions League chances this summer. The Bhoys are just a few weeks away from their Champions League play-off, and they do not look anywhere near close to being ready.
The Hoops fell at the play-off stage last season after a summer of poor recruitment, and the same situation could play out this time around, with the Bhoys having only made one new signing up to this point.
O'Neill has made it clear he wants more new recruits, and they are likely to come, but as things stand, Celtic's squad is weaker than when they came into the summer, with Daizen Maeda about to leave the club for Ipswich Town.
Celtic are less than two weeks away from the new season and three away from their first Champions League qualifier leg, but O'Neill has hardly instilled confidence.
O'Neill seems to be preparing fans for UCL exit
Strangely, O'Neill seemed to repeatedly highlight the possibility of failing to qualify for the Champions League in a recent address.
"It’s important for us to keep this. I think some signings, which we hope to make, will obviously make a difference," he said.
“I think there was a bit of a disconnect because the signings last year either came in too late, and then they went out of the Champions League. Well, that could happen. We could sign another five players, and we could still go out of the Champions League. But those games are really big for us.”
He added: “If we can get through that, that would be fantastic. But as I say, we could sign three or four more players and hopefully can do, and still go out of the Champions League. And then we’ll see what sort of effect that has on the crowd."
Those comments will be a little strange for Celtic fans to read. They come off as completely hopeful rather than ambitious and confident. The lack of recruitment clearly hasn't helped, but you would like to see O'Neill come out with a bullish statement that his side will be ready to qualify and compete in UEFA's premier competition.
Instead, he makes it seem like it's an outside chance, but in his defence, that may just be the veteran boss being completely realistic based on the lack of signings and the holes he now has in his squad. It could also be a wake-up call to the board, who don't seem to recognise the suffering quality of this squad.
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