Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers heard the Parkhead board come under fire from Hoops supporters and has made a transfer demand ahead of the deadline.
Celtic draw 0-0 in Champions League qualifier
It was a frustrating evening for all associated with Celtic on Wednesday evening, with the Hoops’ goalless draw against Kairat Almaty leaving them with work to do to qualify for the Champions League.
Much of the frustration was around Celtic’s transfer activity this summer, with the club spending just under £4m on seven new signings.
Benjamin Nygren
FC Nordsjaelland
£2m
Shin Yamada
Kawasaki Frontale
£1.5m
Hayato Inamura
Albirex Niigata
£250,000
Kieran Tierney
Arsenal
Free
Ross Doohan
Aberdeen
Free
Callum Osmand
Fulham
Undisclosed
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey
Man City
Loan
Talking after the game, Rodgers said: “I think it was pretty clear. You didn’t need to look into the future too far. You know these games are tough games and you want to have your best players in and have players in as quick as you can to tackle these sorts of situations.
“But listen, it is what it is and I just have to accept where it’s at and we’ll now get ready for Saturday and then the long haul on Sunday. “Then we’ll try and get through on Tuesday.”
Rodgers responds to Celtic fans ‘sack the board’ chants and makes transfer demand
When asked about the fans reaction to the ‘sack the board’ chants, aimed at chief executive Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell, Rodgers admitted that Celtic “need” signings before the deadline.
“I do know that, over many years, ‘sack the board’ normally means ‘sack the manager’. It’s normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung. I can only really look at the players we have here, and the performance.
“We’ve known for a long time what we’ve needed as a squad, so I don’t want to go into that. Of course, at the end of the game, we’re having to shuffle things about to try and make it work.
“The players are out of position, but the players’ endeavour in the second half was really good. But at this level, it’s more than that. So hopefully we can show that.
“The boys are a great bunch of lads, they’re really honest. They’ve started the season well. Defensively, they’ve been strong. But tonight, offensively, we just couldn’t show those moments of quality to break through.
“We need to improve the squad. There was clarity around that for a long time. So we see that. I think supporters see that. We certainly do in football. We need to improve. This is a performance club. This is a club that has to perform. And that starts on the field. You do that with getting the very best players you possibly can to allow you to perform.”
There have been reports that an agreement has been reached for Celtic to sign Michel-Ange Balikwisha from Royal Antwerp, although there are still internal issues to resolve.