Four weeks have passed since it was finally confirmed that Martin O’Neill would continue as Celtic’s manager into next season.
During that period, Rangers and Hearts have both appointed new bosses. Between them, those two clubs have also signed 13 new players.
They have both embarked on a summer rebuild and are intent on getting their business done as swiftly and as smartly as possible.
All of this is in stark contrast to what is happening at Celtic. When O’Neill was appointed, Brian Wilson, the club’s interim chairman, stated that they would be ‘very active’ with their recruitment over the coming weeks.
As we now approach the middle of July, Celtic remain the only Scottish Premiership club yet to sign a player. Their lack of urgency is proving to be an all too familiar tale.
The only player who has arrived is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but that is merely an extension of an existing deal, given that he was already in the building last season.
O’Neill has confirmed a deal is in place to sign Qarabag forward Camilo Duran for around £6million, but there is still a huge amount of work to do in terms of the overall rebuild.
O’Neill was confirmed as Celtic manager four weeks ago but is yet to make inroads for the rebuild
You could hardly blame Celtic supporters if they felt a sense of déjà vu about all of this. So far, this summer is proving to be another re-run of the disastrous transfer window witnessed 12 months ago.
A window which set the tone for the full season, on and off the pitch, only for O’Neill to save the club from their own ineptitude.
The Champions League qualifiers are just over a month away. Celtic are already into their pre-season schedule. Preparations should be well under way.
O’Neill should have two or three new signings – at the very least – in the door by now and assembling a new-look squad for the season ahead.
Celtic knew what was required this summer. Everyone did. The squad needed the football equivalent of open-heart surgery.
Yet, still, it feels like this transfer window has somehow taken them by surprise. That they were unprepared for it all. The sense of inertia is impossible to avoid.
What happened in the Champions League qualifiers last summer against Kairat Almaty was an act of self-sabotage. It was a £40million gamble that backfired in spectacular fashion.
Granted, Brendan Rodgers should still have been able to get more out of the team in order to see off such limited opposition.
But the failure to bolster the squad accordingly going into those matches became a key factor. Going into those games with such a diminished and depleted squad, Celtic played Russian roulette – and lost.
Celtic have given Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain an extended deal this summer
The very same thing could now be happening. There is still time to rectify this, of course, but the warning signs are plain for all to see.
The club are busy trying to sell new kits, tickets and other merchandise, pleading with fans to cough up and pump more money into the coffers.
Yet, behind the scenes, the club are still struggling to make any progress with the task at hand. They continue to operate without a head of recruitment or a recognisable recruitment structure.
If the debacle of last season was supposed to be a line in the sand, it’s difficult to see what lessons, if any, have been learned.
There is often a theory that any summer transfer window which features a major tournament inevitably makes the market more difficult.
That players will often sit tight and assess their options once the tournament finishes, that prices can become inflated based on their performances for their country.
But that doesn’t really wash in this instance. The World Cup hasn’t prevented Rangers and Hearts from making good inroads with regards to new signings.
Rangers went out and signed Lawrence Shankland before a ball had even been kicked in the World Cup. When they identified the need for a new goalkeeper, they went out and signed Ivor Pandur from Hull City.
Pandur was actually at the World Cup with Croatia when that deal was confirmed. So, clearly, deals can be done.
The theory that the World Cup is an insurmountable obstacle to signing new players is one purely of convenience to suit clubs who can’t get their house in order.
O’Neill cannot be happy about how this is panning out. He gave an interview recently to the club’s in-house media channel and spoke of trying to sign a couple of new players.
O’Neill guided Celtic to a league and cup Double last season
None of it was convincing. A key part of the reason why he wanted to stay on was the fact that he wanted another crack at Europe this season.
He wanted a proper go at it in the Champions League. Armed with five or six of his own new signings heading into those qualifiers in mid-August.
That was the plan. That may yet still come to fruition. But the sense that Celtic will go into those matches unprepared, as they always do, is growing stronger by the day.
What must also be considered is the fact that certain big-name players are likely to leave, Daizen Maeda being chief among them.
Arne Engels is another whose future remains uncertain. If anyone was to come knocking again with a bid of £25m, as Nottingham Forest did in January, it’s hard to see that being rejected for a second time.
Factor in these likely departures, along with the fact that the squad needed several key additions in any case, and the scale of the issue becomes clear.
Celtic set themselves up to fail last season and only just got away with it after O’Neill performed a rescue mission.
If they were to repeat those same mistakes of 12 months ago, they will be cannon-fodder in Europe once again. Plainly, that’s not what O’Neill signed up for.
