Celtic board backing Ange Postecoglou for January transfer business - both in and out

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou says he has the full back of the club’s board in his quest to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window - and that the reshaping will involve exits as well as acquisitions.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.  (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.  (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

The Australian said last month that the progress his team made between then and the end of the month could impact on Celtic’s activity. But despite going into the midweek hosting of Hearts exhibiting growing assertiveness on the back of a run of 11 games that has yielded nine wins and a draw - the solitary defeat coming away to Bayer Leverkusen last week - Postecoglou feels the same about the squad’s current make-up as he did immediately following the addition of a team’s worth of new players in the summer.

“I still think we need more, squad wise we are not where we want to be,” said the Celtic manager, who has Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton fit and available again. “It's only natural that we wouldn't be. We've added 12 players and it would have been too much to bring in any more than that. I knew at the end of the transfer window that it still wasn't enough.

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"Nothing has changed, although I'm really pleased we have managed to get through this period thus far.

"We've got a lot of games to go and most of the players are up and running and available. We are starting to get to a good level. The resilience we showed coming back from Germany and playing three days later [in the win over Aberdeen] is a good sign for the team as well. My view is that we can still improve the squad and we want to improve the squad in January and the club is supporting me in that.”

Departures appear on the cards too, with such as Ismaila Soro and Boli Bolingoli seen only fleetingly in the past three months and Sheffield Wednesday summer recruits Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide giving no senior competitive minutes. “Some guys will be going on loan and some will be moving out, that's only natural as everything progresses,” Postecoglou said. “Some of that will depend on the players themselves and where they feel they are at. Circumstances change and I expect some players will be moving on.”

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