Peter Lawwell given some welcome respite over transfer dealings thanks to Bolingoli
After weeks of incessant criticism and frustration over Celtic's transfer dealings or lack thereof, chief executive Peter Lawwell has been given some welcome respite.
Much has been written already on Bolingoli’s Spanish jaunt last week and it will continue to hit the headlines until Celtic make a decision on the matter, but the fiasco has given chief executive Peter Lawwell some welcome respite, albeit temporarily, from the incessant criticisms and frustrations from Celtic fans on the club’s lack of movement in the transfer window.
The Scottish transfer window opened on the 14th July [and will remain open until the 5th October], but since then Celtic have signed only one player - keeper Vasilis Barkas from AEK Athens for £4.5 million.
Barkas’ arrival followed the departure of Craig Gordon after he rejected an offer of a new one year deal and ended talk of the re-signing of Southampton shot stopper Fraser Forster who had spent last season on loan at the club, helping to guide us to 9-in-a-row, the last 32 of the Europa League, and two games away from an historic quadruple treble - before the coronavirus pandemic got in the way.
Despite the high of signing a quality keeper in Barkas, the lack of subsequent signings and the list of players we have been linked with have been less than impressive. While we have been faced with moves for Ivan Toney and Albian Ajeti, we have also been met with the likes of Steven Fletcher, Lyle Taylor, Max Lowe and Jamal Lowe as potential signings.
Thankfully, talk of Fletcher signing for Celtic all but ended when Stoke City offered the Sheffield Wednesday striker a two year contract - although it has not been completed as yet. While the link to Taylor, reported by Sky Sports, also fizzled into nothing more than rumour - likely perpetrated by the player’s agent to secure interest from other clubs in England following his controversial departure from Charlton Athletic.
And while the club has lodged a bid with Peterborough United for Toney and approached West Ham to loan Ajeti - there is still no second signing on the horizon for Celtic - despite phantom claims, again from Sky Sports, that Ajeti was in Glasgow over the weekend to sign on the dotted line and to undertake a medical.
So while many of us are focusing on the fall out over the Bolingoli debacle and our next two league games against St.Mirren and Aberdeen being postponed, giving Hibernian the chance to stretch their lead to 11 points at the top of the table over us, Peter Lawwell has moved out of the crosshairs of the supporters, even if it is temporary.
With one week to go until we face KR Reykjavik in the first qualifying round of the Champions League, fans will continue to demand that the club sign a player before then even though we have a squad capable of beating the Icelandic champions - as we did back in 2014 winning 5-0 on aggregate.
Season after season, Lawwell and the Celtic board have gambled with the club’s place in Europe hoping to spend as little as possible to secure Champions League group stage qualification, which has seen them fail to qualify since 2017. We have another shot this season with a home draw against KR Reykjavik and another against either Ferencváros of Hungary or Swedish champions Djurgården. While the Icelandic side could - with respect - be seen as an easy tie to kick off with, the second qualifying round is a more difficult affair and we will almost certainly need strengthening before that.
That gives us a window of at least two weeks surely giving Lawwell enough time to bring in a strike partner for Odsonne Edouard, a central defender and possibly a left back to replace Bolingoli - if or when he is shown the exit door.
That may be wishful thinking, but if Lawwell and the board don’t step up their efforts and focus solely on the balance sheets they could very well see another Champions League adventure disappear. And if their lack of dealings damages Celtic’s quest for 10-in-a-row [on top of the Bolingoli affair] then they’d better flee the country!
So while Lawwell has been given a wee bit of a breather from the chaos of the transfer market, he needs to get back to work and reward the Celtic fans, who stepped up in their tens of thousands once more and during a pandemic to buy season tickets and new merchandise, with players that will strengthen the team rather than more project players.
Finger oot Peter!
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