FLIRTY DOZEN
Celts are making advances on league crown thanks to Ange’s sexy signings but does he have the strength to go all the way?
CELTIC went all the way to the last minute on transfer deadline day but after landing a dozen new players it’s a case of better late than never.
There’s been enormous change in the last few months with so many key players leaving and the influx of an entirely new team.
In an ideal world these players would have been in long before the final day but I know it’s not always that straightforward.
What is clear is this is now more like Ange Postecoglou’s team and the manager has shown enough in his first few weeks in the job that he should have the trust of the supporters.
His signings so far have hit the ground running and they have to believe the latest batch will do the same.
There are a lot of questions that need to be answered though. Is the Celtic squad stronger now that it was last season? Only time will tell but you have to say the new recruits have improved the team.
You look Odsonne Edouard, Kris Ajer and Ryan Christie following Scott Brown out the door and it might sound ridiculous.
Those guys were always going to be tough to replace having achieved so much and there’s a bit of me that thinks it’s a shame Edouard and Christie in particular are gone.
But you have to take it from the baseline of last season. Celtic were woeful last term, so do they look better equipped now?
You better believe it. Perhaps I’m going soft in my old age but I think Celtic are ahead of where we thought they would be.
That might sound mad after an Old Firm defeat but when you look at the mess Postecoglou had to mop up, he’s performed a minor miracle getting the side competitive at this stage and getting them to the Europa League.
They were a whisker away from beating Rangers last week and they will only improve as the new faces settle. It was always going to take him more than one window but no one can say players such as Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Abada and Joe Hart haven’t made an impact. Carl Starfelt has shown signs of settling as well, while Anthony Ralston and Tom Rogic have been so surprising they are almost as good as new signings.
Josip Juranovic performed admirably at Ibrox despite being thrown in at left-back, that’s another positive. Now we’ll see what the deadline day trio can bring.
I still have concerns about the physicality of this Celtic side and their lack of aerial power. Cameron Carter-Vickers isn’t necessarily going to solve that problem until Christopher Jullien comes back.
Carter-Vickers may well be a good signing but set-pieces are a huge part of the game and it’s an area of vulnerability for Celtic in recent seasons.
Giorgos Giakoumakis is an interesting one. He set Holland alight last season despite his team going down. He’ll provide different options up top, to help out Kyogo, while Jota is a fascinating one.
This is a lad who was tipped for great things at Benfica but seems to have lost his way a bit. If Postecoglou can get him playing like he’s done for others then it’s an exciting prospect.
There are still worries. The midfield looks light, especially as James McCarthy needs to prove his fitness and there could be a lot of heavy lifting for Callum McGregor and David Turnbull.
How will they cope when we go into the hectic winter months and title-winning teams are able to grind out results when not playing fast-flowing football? We’ll have to wait and see.
One thing I’m more sure about is Leigh Griffiths’ time at the club has come to an end.
I know he said he still thinks he has a future at Celtic but with a move to Dundee and his contract up in the summer, I can’t see it. Griffiths getting an extension this year was a strange one, getting a new deal in 12 months would be even more surprising regardless of what he does at Dundee.
He had a bit of a dig at Neil Lennon on his way out and I can actually see both sides.
I get Lennon battering him for not pulling his weight. But I can also see the other side, as it’s the manager’s job to make sure his players are doing what is necessary. I know Griffiths thinks I’ve had it in for him as well as everyone else but I’ve said it a million times, I like him as a player. Any criticism from me has been because I knew he could have done better. It’s time for him to do his talking on the pitch now and show James McPake he means business.
Who knows, maybe this time the penny will drop. But I suspect the ship will have sailed for him at Celtic and Postecoglou is pushing ahead with his plans. Griffiths looks to be in the past at Parkhead but major changes to the squad have given fans reasons to be optimistic for the
future.