THIN PICKINGS LEAVE BRENDAN IN A FIX
Brendan Rodgers is in the eye of a perfect storm without protective clothing.
A night of potential embarrassment awaits Celtic in the Champions League when they go to play Atletico Madrid in Spain on Tuesday.
The need to juggle European fixtures and domestic matches is taking an unmissable toll on a squad denied the strength in depth that was supposed to be provided by 10 new signings in the summer transfer window.
And then, running concurrently with all of that, is the outbreak of internal warfare between the club and the Green Brigade that threatens to become a distraction that boobytraps the remainder of the year.
All of which has left the manager to perfect the art of being economical with the truth while avoiding accusations of telling lies.
But if Brendan bites down any harder on his tongue he’ll run the risk of being out injured for longer than Marco Tillio.
When Rodgers was publicly assessing his squad last week he hesitated ever so slightly before coming up with the observation he had enough “development” players. The group handed to Rodgers when he returned to the club as manager back in July was assembled in a perplexing fashion.
Some, like Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Yuki Kobayashi and Tillio, have vanished without trace.
Others, like Odin Thiago Holm and Paulo Bernardo, are peripheral at best.
Gustaf Lagerbielke couldn’t even get on the bench against St Mirren on Wednesday in spite of Cameron Carter-Vickers being rested for that game.
Need I go on?
The manager can bemoan the incessant demands of the fixture list but questionable signings have done him no favours when it comes to combating the fatigue that has leadened Celtic’s footsteps of late.
When Brendan says he’s going to bring in players of “genuine quality” in the January window you are left to arrive at only one conclusion.
Rodgers doesn’t believe there is sufficient quality within the signings he inherited.
There is no other possible interpretation of his words. And that’s why he has no security blanket in the eye of the storm.