‘Don’t sleep at the wheel’ – Parkhead banner suggests Celtic still have work to do to win supporters over

Celtic were too good for AIK in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Thursday night, with goals from Odsonne Edouard and James Forrest sealing a 2-0 win.

But one banner unveiled by the Celtic supporters suggests that the club still have work to do in order to win the fans back onside following an unconvincing summer in the transfer window.

While matters on the field have been relatively good; a strong start in the league with plenty of goals, victory over AIK and Dumbarton in Europe and the cup respectively, the shock defeat to CFR Cluj has somewhat overshadowed that positivity.

While the Romanian side were tough and well organised, Neil Lennon’s side should have progressed through to the Champions League play-offs, make no doubt about it.

And that loss emphasised how complacent Celtic have become in the transfer market in recent windows. 

While Hatem Abd Elhamed, Christopher Jullien, Boli Bolingoli, Jonathan Afolabi and now Fraser Forster have all been brought in over the summer, supporters still want to see more given the high profile departures from the club.

The banner perfectly encapsulates what the board are doing; they are falling asleep at the wheel of a car that is miles ahead of the competition domestically – at least they have been.

However the board are now at a crossroads. Continuing straight continues the trend of doing well domestically and a relatively decent Europa League campaign here and there; but the straight road allows the competition to catch up.

Rangers have strengthened and will no doubt look to push Celtic all the way this season, and while the start to the league campaign has been strong thus far, the defeat to Cluj has emphasised that the Hoops can take nothing for granted and they also need more quality to compete in the Champions League.

Turning at the crossroads, though, would be the change in direction the club needs to go to reach the lofty heights of 10 in a row, while consistently qualifying for the Champions League group stages at a minimum.

There is no reason why Celtic cannot change that focus, and it must be done to ensure this dominance continues.