TROUBLE IN PARADISE?
Celtic’s Champions League hopes are hanging by a thread as a key transfer is allowed to slip away and now Rodgers is no longer masking his frustration. Is this the first sign of...
I look for the help that is needed to take the club to the next level
JOHN McGINN’s impact on the Celtic midfield could never have matched the ructions caused by his decision to join Aston Villa instead.
A lifelong supporter and grandson of former Celtic chairman Jack, McGinn was seen as the heir apparent to Scott Brown.
A ready-made replacement for Stuart Armstrong. A no-brainer, low-risk signing for Scotland’s champions.
Few saw him taking on the status of the straw that broke the camel’s back. The catalyst for a shot across the bows from Brendan Rodgers to Celtic powerbrokers after Hibs turned down three undercooked Celtic bids and nudged the midfielder towards the English Championship.
Unable to suppress his exasperation at the failure to land one of his key targets, Rodgers phoned McGinn after the 23-year-old put pen to paper on a £2.7million move to Villa.
‘It was just to wish him all the very best,’ revealed the Parkhead boss. ‘It was a great move for him — disappointment for us, of course. Especially when he is a lifelong Celtic supporter.
‘But he’s joining another illustrious club with a great history, wonderful training facilities and a good manager and an opportunity to go play in England.
‘He has developed a lot these last couple of years. He is a good age, a prime age at 23, and I wish him all the very best.’
At the heart of Celtic’s failure to land McGinn lay a fatal miscalculation.
A belief that a lifelong supporter would ultimately resist offers from England and choose to play for his boyhood idols at any price now looks both complacent and ill-judged.
Three Celtic bids fell far short of Hibernian’s valuation.
By the time the Parkhead club finally submitted an offer agreeable to the Edinburgh club, McGinn was at Villa Park with a pen hovering over a £23,000-a-week contract.
Clearly of the view the whole business could have been cleanly and clinically tied up before English clubs had a sniff, Rodgers says of the conversation before Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with AEK Athens: ‘It was just a call out of courtesy really. He is a young man that I would like to see do well.
‘He is very committed to his profession and a very good player. I wish him all the very best..’
Asked if Celtic can afford to regard any signing as a sure thing, he shrugged: ‘Well, there are always things you can learn, whether you sign a player or don’t sign a player. But it’s gone, so we move on.’
Pressed on allegations of arrogance or complacency in Celtic’s dealings with Hibs and the player, he added: ‘That’s for you to write, not for me to say.’
The Celtic board can’t be blamed, of course, for some of the signings they did deliver. January signings like Marvin Compper and Charly Musonda who failed to deliver.
Contrary to reports at the time, however, Compper cost nothing in terms of a transfer fee. Neither did the Parkhead club pay Chelsea a loan fee for Musonda before agreeing to shoulder an alleged wage of £47,000 a week.
After raking in £60m from reaching the Champions League Rodgers feels allegations of squandering cash on underperforming players have been overdone.
The message is clear; given greater funds to play with, he would sign some better players.
Against the backdrop of all of this, supporters see their dream of Rodgers leading the club to ten-in-a-row going up in smoke.
Given the apparent speed at which relations between the two sides are deteriorating, they will do well to make it through the next ten days without a damaging collapse in Athens.
‘I have a huge respect for the board here,’ insisted Rodgers. ‘Absolutely. They have run the club strategically very, very well.
‘Me coming into here and what I have seen in the last couple of years, I have really good relations with every one of them. There is not an issue there at all.
‘My focus is on doing the best for Celtic. Deep down, I am a supporter — but I am also a professional manager.
‘I also look for the help that is needed to take the team to the next level, if that is what the demand is. I will always push for that.
‘What we need in the squad in terms of real, genuine quality positioning will obviously cost you money. It doesn’t guarantee anything but what you would hope is that it would give you a greater opportunity.
‘The game is about quality and quality players. We have some outstanding players here in terms of quality and talents.
‘We are trying to grow and cultivate your squad to the best that it can be and for that, you can’t stand still. You have to keep looking to develop and improve it, even if you think you are doing okay. That is something that is a constant.’
Celtic will sign two players before Saturday’s precarious trip to Tynecastle to face Hearts.
Former left-back Emilio Izaguirre will join the club after a year in Saudi Arabia. New Manchester City winger Daniel Arzani will also join on a two-year loan deal.
‘Daniel Arzani has been up with us and has completed formalities with Man City,’ said Rodgers. ‘He is up here doing likewise.
‘Hopefully within the next few days that can be confirmed really.
‘Emilio, likewise, will come in for a medical. From the experience of what we know from before, that should be a formality.
‘It gives us that cover really in a position where Kieran (Tierney) is clearly our No1 full-back.
‘We are bringing in someone who fully understands that.
‘We had 61 competitive games last year and KT cannot play in every single one, there’s not a player who can play in virtually every one.
‘We have to be mindful that the level of quality doesn’t drop off too much, and it’s not easy to bring in someone who can sit in as a secondary left-back.
‘To have Emilio back allows young Calvin Miller to go on loan.
‘So it is multi-purpose really. But great for him to Emilio to come in to the squad again.’
A lukewarm response to questions over Arzani offered one of the first indications of tension between Rodgers and his Celtic powerbrokers.
‘He is an exciting player, but we have to see,’ he said.
‘He is only starting out in his career, so the club have a close link with Manchester City and he is a talent over the next two years.
‘He is a nice young guy. Let’s see how he works.’
Asked how the move came about Rodgers added: ‘It doesn’t really matter, to be honest.’
‘It was an opportunity that arose. So we will see how it goes.’