Celtic is an analogue club in a digital world, regressing at a rapid pace

Martin O’Neill required additions yesterday, and this window is already showing worrying signs of becoming another damaging failure, with repercussions that will stretch well beyond the short term…

Audible chanting of ‘the Celtic board have got to go,’ along with ‘sack the board’ and ‘sign a player’ was belted out in the away end during the Hoops’ turgid 2-0 win over West of Scotland Premier Division side Auchinleck Talbot at the weekend. At least some at the game found it rather amusing…

Celtic have done plenty of ‘monitoring, enquiring, considering and eyeing’ this window but have only signed one player despite the disastrous squad mismanagement in 2025.

It is worth remembering that Paul Tisdale oversaw one of the poorest transfer windows in the club’s history, approving deals for the likes of Shin Yamada, Hayato Inamura and Michel-Ange Balikwisha.

In hindsight, trusting someone whose CV read Bath, Exeter, MK Dons, Bristol Rovers, Colchester United and Stevenage was perhaps never the wisest move Dermot Desmond has made in his long and successful business career.

It also appears he has taken his shopping list with him, given that Shaun Maloney and Martin O’Neill have been entrusted with recruitment this month – which rather neatly sums up the outdated way Celtic continue to operate.

Almost a year has passed since Kyogo left the club, yet across three transfer windows – 102 days in total – Celtic have been unable to properly replace the Japanese striker’s 85-goal contribution from three-and-a-half trophy-laden seasons.

The situation following Nicolas Kühn’s departure is equally concerning. Even by the board’s standards, the failure to sign a right-winger has been extraordinary, leaving the club more than halfway through the January window with Yang and James Forrest as the only options on that flank.

We are continually told that January is “a difficult window to do business in.” Nonsense. Under Ange Postecoglou and his agent Frank Trimboli, Celtic signed Reo Hatate and Daizen Maeda in January 2022. Matt O’Riley soon fooled in that window. A year later, Alistair Johnston arrived and was thrown straight in at Ibrox for his debut. Then, in January 2024, Brendan Rodgers’ only two signings — Adam Idah and Nicolas Kühn – both went on to leave the club for a combined £23.5 million, underlining that smart January business is not only possible, but proven.

Look across the city and Hearts. The latest Ibrox club have targeted experience in Andreas Skov Olsen – a 40-cap Denmark international who joined Wolfsburg last summer for around €12 million from Club Brugge. Meanwhile, Hearts identified the need for a right-back and a winger and addressed both within the opening days of the window, giving the new signings time to settle, train with teammates and play matches.

Hearts have also completed two pre-contract signings – forward planning for next season by unearthing more gems across world football. This isn’t revolutionary thinking, it’s simply competent recruitment. And having listened to Danny Rohl and Derek McInnes, it’s clear they both sense a vulnerability at Celtic – a perception reflected in how aggressively theRangers, in particular, have gone in pursuit of the title.

For a club conditioned to dominance, Celtic slipping into third of a title race once perceived as a two-horse race would represent a remarkable reversal.

A defeat on Sunday at Tynecastle would see Celtic fall nine behind Hearts with the Jambos also possessing a significantly better goal difference, all with 15 games to play. That would almost certainly be curtains for O’Neill’s men. The margins have tightened mainly through Celtic’s own failures. And Celtic fans unfortunately have ‘told you so’ t-shirts on.

Should current trends persist, the prospect of finishing behind Hearts and theRangers may come to feel like an inevitability if nothing changes at the club structurally, the impact of this season could be generational. What is happening in this window has become the norm. Celtic have earned an unwanted reputation as a club that’s hard to deal with. Negotiations become drawn-out, decisions stall, and valuable time slips away.

During the January window, when clubs operate at speed to rebalance squads and add quality, that sluggish approach leaves Celtic trailing behind the market. Refreshing the football department alone won’t fix the problem – authority needs to be delegated properly so transfers aren’t slowed by repeatedly seeking Dermot Desmond’s approval over relatively small sums.

Even if O’Neill was to win the league with this squad, it would merely mask the deep-rooted structural problems within the club. Empires rise and fall. Celtic is an analogue club in a digital world, and are regressing at a rapid pace.

Conor Spence

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