It’s time for this board to show us what they are made of.
There’s no Dom McKay to point the finger at this time. No new start who is still learning the ropes.
There is no Peter Lawwell to point the finger at for penny pinching.
Ange basically said it himself in his press conference yesterday. The mistakes of the summer window, taking far too long to bring players in, simply cannot happen in January.
Ange Postecoglou will have already identified who he wants to bring in. The three Japanese players we have all heard about seem nailed on. But I’m sure there will be one or two others, possibly even three, that haven’t been in the media as potential targets.
The Celtic board must do everything they can to bring these guys over to Glasgow ASAP so they are ready to go come January 2nd. Especially the three Japanese players, who’s season is now over, there is absolutely no excuse, football wise, not to bring them over to Glasgow at the earliest possible time.
Other players we are looking to sign will likely still be in their season and will have games to play for their current clubs, these guys do not. And for any other players we are looking to bring in who are half way through their season, we must be ruthless and insistent. None of this stuff we’ve seen in the past that we allow clubs to first sign a replacement for the player we are looking to sign, if we need to pay a little extra to sweeten the deal and to get things moving, then this is what we must do. This season is far too important to mess about, and the league race is far too close.
The only thing that could hinder us that would be out of the board’s hands to some extent would be any sort of travel restrictions or quarantine rules for the players coming over from Japan. Restrictions and quarantine periods seem to be changing all time and will likely change further by the start of January. We simply cannot afford to waste any time. Especially with the number of injuries we are getting at the moment.
Ange must be given the best chance possible to win us the league this season. If the board leave it to the last minute to bring these players in, that would be negligence of the highest order, and it would be unforgivable.