Lawwell isn’t Santa ... kids want a Mac Air and get a Kindle. That’s what parents can afford. It’s same at Celts .. you have to get on with it
SAYS GORDON STRACHAN
There wasn’t a single transfer window when Gordon Strachan didn’t feel exasperated.
More often than not he would lose a top player or fail to land a prime target because the purse strings simply wouldn’t stretch.
Either way, he was frustrated. And when the window slammed shut he’d breathe a huge sigh of relief.
He experienced it during four years as Celtic boss so Strachan knows exactly what Brendan Rodgers is going through now.
It started by losing Scotland midfielder Stuart Armstrong for £7million and being unable to snare John McGinn as a replacement.
Then he effectively lost Dedryck Boyata – in spirit at least – after the Belgian refused to play in their Champions League qualifier against AEK in Athens.
And late on Friday night, the Celtic boss was forced to admit defeat in his attempts to keep Moussa Dembele, who moved to Lyon.
His incomings were restricted to Leicester loanee Filip Benkovic and former Kilmarnock free agent Youssouf Mulumbu.
The general consensus is that Celtic are weaker at the end of this window than at the start.
But Strachan admits it’s par for the course at a club who can’t compete financially with the big boys of Europe.
He dealt with it all during his stint at Parkhead but still managed to win a third title on the trot in 2008.
And ahead of today’s Old Firm derby, Strachan told MailSport: “Every manager ends up frustrated in the transfer window for different reasons.
“Sometimes I wanted a player but his wages were too much for Celtic.
“People don’t understand that. If you sign a guy on 60k a week, you have other guys wanting 50 – suddenly the wage bill is sky high.
“I also rushed into signings and paid a lot of money but soon thought: ‘Why did I bother?’ “There wasn’t a transfer window when I didn’t feel I needed another player. But your chairman or chief executive isn’t Santa Claus. “Plenty kids ask their parents for a Mac Air. “But the parents say: ‘You’re getting an Amazon Kindle, get on with it.’ “That’s what mum and dad can afford. It’s the same with Celtic. So of course there’s frustration. And players can start to act strangely if there is a chance to move on. I’ve had a couple who acted against their true nature. Then when the window shuts, they’ll apologise for their behaviour.
“Players get frustrated with team-mates who want to leave. It’s crazy.
“It’s a strange environment during the window. When it shuts, it’s wonderful – even if you don’t actually get the players you wanted.”
Despite the negativity surrounding Celtic at the start of this term, Strachan still has total faith in Rodgers.
With Dembele gone and Boyata unhappy, some critics wonder if the Northern Irishman can keep his double Treble-winning squad hungry for more success.
But ex-Scotland boss Strachan is adamant that the mindset at Celtic is different to anywhere he has been.
He said: “I don’t think it’s difficult to keep players hungry there.
“I spoke to someone recently about leaving the Celtic dressing-room for somewhere else and they found it very strange.
“He thought the winning mentality he had been part of at Celtic was at every club. But it’s not.
“So I think Brendan can keep it going so long as there are people there who can pass on the baton, pass on that feeling.
“Guys like Scott Brown, Mika Lustig and Craig Gordon who have been around a long time.
“They’ll tell people when they come to the club it’s just about winning. “When you lose that it’s hard to get it back. Rangers lost it for a while but they
are now getting a sniff again. Only a sniff because you need to start winning things.
“But it makes it more interesting. Most people around Britain now HAVE to see this game on Sunday.
“Rangers fans will be waking up thinking they can win it. It’s not been like that for a while.”
That’s why Strachan expects Rodgers to face his toughest season yet in the Parkhead hotseat.
He experienced the same with Walter Smith in 2008 but emerged victorious after a nail-biting title finale.
But Strachan believes the levels both clubs were operating at a decade ago was far higher than it is now.
He said: “Sometimes when you’re successful at a club for a couple of years, people move on.
“With Brendan, who’s going into his third season, clubs are keen to buy his players because they’ve done so well.
“That’s just what you get. They have brought it on themselves by being so successful.
“That will always be a problem for Celtic, until the Scottish Premiership has teams at the top level in Europe every year.
“In my third season at Celtic we got to the last 16 of the Champions League, Rangers reached the UEFA Cup Final and even Aberdeen were in the group stage of the UEFA Cup.
“Our coefficient back then was high. That was a smashing period but it has dropped since then.
“It looks at the moment like that third year for Brendan will be a lot harder. We’ll find out soon enough.”
Strachan is a Paddy Power ambassador. You can read his columns at news.
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