When it comes to attracting players from overseas, Celtic have never made any secret of what they believe they can offer.
Promoting themselves as a gateway to one of Europe’s big five leagues, there’s a broad understanding among all parties of how it’s going to work.
Sign a four-year deal, light up the Scottish stage and make an impact in Europe. If the player keeps their side of the bargain, the biting point will arrive within two or three seasons.
Celtic get a handsome fee for someone who’s been good for them. The player earns a more lucrative deal in a more taxing environment. Everyone’s a winner. Rinse and repeat. So goes the theory, anyway.
The trouble is that the days of Virgil van Dijk being a shining example of an efficient selling model now feel a long time ago.
The club does sporadically turn a quick profit on a player like Matt O’Riley or Nicolas Kuhn but there are now too many blockages in the pipeline.
Reo Hatate picked up two needless bookings in quick succession against Bologna midweek
The Japanese midfielder could have no complaints about the decision to send him off
Manager Martin O’Neill revealed that Hatate apologised for his dismissal at full-time
A lack of ready-made replacements is seeing the club hanging on to players for too long. Not only does the till stop ringing but managers become saddled with individuals who no longer want to be there.
A couple of weeks ago, Martin O’Neill let it slip that Daizen Maeda thought he was off to Wolfsburg last summer.
The forward had apparently cleaned out his locker at Lennoxtown and was preparing to move his family to a new life in Germany.
Celtic didn’t sanction the move because they’d sold Kyogo Furuhashi and Adam Idah in successive windows and needed Maeda to fill in at centre forward as they couldn’t source direct replacements.
Maeda is an extraordinarily committed professional, but he’s also a human who naturally wants to maximise his earning potential in what’s a short career. It’s little wonder that his performance levels dipped in the early weeks of the season.
In Bologna on Thursday, Reo Hatate behaved like he’d a bee in his bonnet. The midfielder was signed together with Maeda four years ago this month. That’s a long time in football.
There was interest from Brighton in the summer of 2024. After two and a half years in Glasgow, Hatate fancied the move. Celtic thought otherwise.
A year on, Udinese were hot on his trail. Hatate’s representatives told the club that their client was interested in moving to Italy. With the most shambolic transfer window in living memory underway, Celtic again told him he was going nowhere.
Keeper Kasper Schmeichel could only watch as Jonathan Rowe fired in Bologna’s equaliser
So, while you cannot possibly excuse Hatate’s idiocy in getting himself sent off in Bologna for a pair of quickly acquired yellow cards, context is important.
If the wheels at Parkhead were turning as they should, he would have been nowhere to be seen on Thursday. A younger, hungrier talent would have been in his position and Celtic would be up on the deal.
Instead, O’Neill fielded a player whose head went in the space of a few minutes. There’s an element of cause and effect to it all.
The club aren’t just guilty of retaining a players’ services against their wishes. There’s also a failure to recognise that the best days of some are behind them.
In a hotel bar a couple of hours after the final whistle, Joe Hart was chewing the fat with supporters after watching an incident packed 2-2 draw in his new capacity as a television co-commentator.
Hatate’s folly — and how costly it might have been — was the main topic of conversation, but Kasper Schmeichel’s part in Bologna’s second goal was another sore point among the green and white hordes.
While it’s true that the Dane made some vital stops on the night, he was motionless as Jonathan Rowe’s shot from the edge of the box flew past him to square the match.
It’s not the first time this season that Schmeichel has lost a soft goal. Amid all the heroics, errors are becoming more conspicuous.
Daizen Maeda was all set to depart the club for German side Wolfsburg during the summer
Hart was 37 when he quit football after three fine years at Celtic in 2024. The Dane was the same age at the point he replaced the Englishman.
While goalkeepers do tend to play for longer, it’s rare for them to keep going as their 40th birthday approaches.
Schmeichel hits that milestone at the end of this year and it’s long been apparent that he’s not the keeper he once was.
Celtic, again, should have got in front of the problem in the summer by either trusting Viljami Sinisalo or signing another keeper. For a club which stockpiles money, asset management is not its forte.
By the end of a dramatic night in northern Italy, the errors of Hatate and Schmeichel had been costly, but they were not disastrous.
Although their depleted numbers were pegged back after being two goals up at half-time, they didn’t capitulate.
An outstanding rearguard action ensured they left with a point that they’d have taken in a heartbeat before a ball was kicked.
Celtic now know they need only to beat an already eliminated Utrecht side next Thursday to qualify. That scenario would have seemed faintly ludicrous the night they shipped three goals in the first half to Roma under Wilfried Nancy.
Auston Trusty produced an outstanding performance on Thursday to earn a hard-fought point
O’Neill has picked up where he left off as his first interim spell came to an end. The side has organisation and structure.
It clearly lacks quality in certain areas, but the veteran’s mere presence has lifted the spirits.
Auston Trusty and Liam Scales were magnificent on Thursday, their partnership reminiscent of the night they shut out Atalanta in Bergamo under Brendan Rodgers.
They were not alone in making telling blocks and tracking runners until the final whistle granted them a merciful release from Bologna’s pressure. It was a colossal effort from almost every player. They left it all out there.
While a hard-earned point will be good for the soul, the concern for O’Neill will be the physical impact of such a gruelling shift.
At times after Hatate’s dismissal, Celtic were set up in a 6-3-0 formation. There was no out-ball, no respite from the onslaught.
Back in Scotland, the watching Hearts players would have leapt from their sofas when the Japanese took the long walk on the 34th minute.
Seeing Celtic suffer so much for an hour would have been a welcome bonus for Derek McInnes’ players ahead of the Sunday clash at Tynecastle.
The minds of O’Neill’s players are strong. We’ll only be able to gauge the impact of Bologna on their bodies in the fullness of time.
Celtic face Hearts this Sunday looking for their first win over the league leaders this season
It’s a game you feel Celtic cannot afford to lose if they are to retain realistic hope of retaining their title.
There was growing concern when Rodgers’ side lost 3-1 in Gorgie in October to fall eight points off the pace. There were 31 games remaining back then.
A defeat on Sunday would leave them nine points behind and there would only be 15 games to go. The situation would be critical.
There’s likely to be a first sighting of Tomas Cvancara, the Czech forward who Celtic have signed on loan from Borussia Monchengladbach.
With Hatate suspended for Utrecht and having only made a fleeting appearance in Italy, paradoxically, it might make sense for O’Neill to start him.
It’s a question of trust. Privately, the player may also feel that the faith he had in his employers to do right by him has been misplaced.
