While the Ibrox side gives us plenty to talk about, Celtic have given us nothing to talk about so far. That needs to change

Tomorrow is the last day of June, we are almost twenty days into the summer transfer window, and not even so much as a sniff of a player signing for Celtic.

It seems to me that Chris Sutton is the only person in the media calling this out.

This is typical Celtic.

And while it’s not yet time to hit the panic button, pre-season will be starting soon, and if we continue at this snail’s pace in the transfer market, no potential new signings will get a pre-season to allow them to bed into their new surroundings.

Today in the Herald, we have Charlie Mulgrew telling us how the transfer window is such a “complex situation”.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that Mulgrew is acting as a mouthpiece for the club with his assessment, but why is it ALWAYS a “complex situation” for Celtic?

All around us, clubs go about their business in the transfer window, yet Celtic just can’t seem to master it because it’s a “complex situation”.

Of course it’s complex.

That’s why we pay people large salaries to scout and source the talent we need to augment our team.

We are still without a goalkeeper.

And while there are plenty of rumours doing the rounds, even bogus ones claiming that we had agreed a fee for Dominik Livaković, we don’t seem any closer to securing a No. 1.

We tend to do this a lot when a certain position is at critical risk.

And by critical risk, I mean we could very well be starting our pre-season with Scott Bain between the sticks.

That, for me, is unacceptable.

In fact, it would be embarrassing if that ended up being the case.

We play Russian roulette at Celtic with certain positions on a regular basis.

We still don’t have a back up for the left back position.

What do we do if Greg Taylor gets injured, just throw Tony Ralston in there?

Look, I’m pretty sure Brendan Rodgers has earmarked all of the players he needs and wants.

And I’ve no doubt he’ll be putting the pressure on the people whose job it is to get the required deals over the line.

But almost twenty days of the transfer window have passed.

Our pre-season begins next Friday with a match against Scott Brown’s Ayr United.

Will we be twenty five days into the window at that stage with no new signings in place?

In the Record this morning, Chris Sutton speaks about Celtic taking risks in the transfer window this summer.

Here’s a bit of what he had to say:

To get that happening on a regular basis, Rodgers knows he needs to add quality to his ranks and, with the expanded competition and more section games meaning more revenue again, the board should be able to go a bit further in the market.

I’m not stupid. I realise there is a limit to what Celtic can do. But they can take a risk or two with the money in the bank.

And he’s right, there IS a limit to what Celtic can do, but there is no limit to what we might achieve if we actually take a risk or two.

It’s not as if we can’t afford it, is it?

We risked almost £20 million last summer on what turned out to be a failed transfer window.

Perhaps two players made the grade out the ten odd who were signed.

Why not risk £20 million on four players this season who could bring experience and maturity, instead of youth and inexperience?

Look, it’s hard to know what goes on within the walls of Celtic Park and Lennoxtown, I’m not privy to any of that.

But I can see, just like anyone else, that nothing has happened thus far.

And just like anyone else, I know it needs to start happening soon.

Otherwise, just as Chris Sutton has pointed out in his article this morning, we could end up starting our European campaign with players still bedding in.

That was simply not good enough.

And it was why our deficiencies were shown up badly during last season’s Champions League campaign.

As I said in the headline of this article, Celtic have given us nothing to talk about so far.

Before you know it though, nothing becomes a lot to talk about.

Meanwhile, over at Ibrox, they’ve given us plenty to talk about.

I’ve had my say on that with an article about the stadium debacle, and another about the Karma of 55.

And while we might be laughing at their impending calamitous start to the season, we need to ensure we are strategically placed to take advantage of that.

In order to do that, we need to get our transfer business under way, and concluded well in advance of the first Champions League group game.

Brendan Rodgers has earned the right to bring in the players he wants for this coming season.

The board owes him that, considering they tied one hand behind his back with last season’s poor recruitment.

Despite that, Rodgers delivered a double.

Just imagine where he could take this team if he has all of the players he wants in place by the start of the season?

I have to believe he’s given the board his shortlist, and told them that the players listed on it are the ones he wants.

We the fans, have to hope everything falls into place over the coming weeks.

However, past behaviour by the Celtic board creates the sceptic in us, and it’s very hard not to be sceptical when it comes to this subject.

It’s hard for me to feel different in this window.

Especially the way it has started.

Maybe that’s a good thing?

We were very quick out of the traps in the 2022, and 2023 windows, albeit a lot of the signings never made the grade.

The fact that things are going slower this time around may mean we have very select targets in this window.

Targets that will make Celtic a much stronger propostion.

Both at home, and in Europe.

Either way, we need to see some movement, and soon.

Over to you Celtic.