Celtic now looking for ‘experience and physicality’ in transfer window

There is no chance of Neil Lennon being able to avoid his team being judged against title rivals Rangers when the Scottish Premiership resumes this week. And the home defeat to Steven Gerrard’s men immediately before the shut-down has more than removed any margin for error for Celtic in their quest for a ninth straight title. It is the reason the Parkhead manager himself has essentially arrived at the judgment that the club’s January transfer moves so far haven’t covered all the bases that could be required for the monumental five months ahead.

Celtic's latest signing Patryk Klimala is unveiled at Parkhead. Picture: Paul Devlin/SNS

Celtic’s starting line-up in the 2-1 defeat by the Ibrox club three weeks ago was on average two years younger than their visitors. The nature of the defeat left Lennon feeling his team “looked like they lacked a little bit of nous and experience, a little bit of physicality, so these are areas we’re looking at to bring in”.

Celtic appear to have successfully pursued bustling young talent, but have not yet appeared on the verge of striking deals for the sort of experienced performers with heft who could immediately compete for starting places.

The 21-year-old pair of Patryk Klimala – the Polish striker recruited from Jagiellonia Białystok from £3.5 million this week – and midfielder Ismaila Soro – whose switch from Israeli club Bnei Yehuda is dependent on visa and work permit issues being resolved – will bring “freshness”, says Lennon, pictured, but both will require time to assimilate and push their cases for regular involvement.

Now it might be a matter of taking the loan path to recruit more established performers for a title pursuit where they dare not fall short, and one that will take them to Kilmarnock on Wednesday night.

This temporary signing pathway proved the means that allowed for £12m Southampton winger Mohamed Elyounoussi, a 25-year-old regular Norwegian international with more than 250 senior appearances and championship wins with Basel and Molde, to be brought in for a season’s stay.

“Yeah, what we are looking for is to add one or two, like an Elyounoussi type, who are ready to come in and play straight away with a bit more experience and more physicality,” said Lennon. “We’ve got a couple that have left. Scott Sinclair’s gone, Lewis Morgan’s gone, so we have a couple of other plates spinning in terms of players who are not playing on a regular basis who need to get out and play, so that might leave a little bit more room for manoeuvre to bring one or two more in.”

Backbone will be required if Celtic are to hold off Rangers, two points behind them but with a game in hand, in what is shaping up to be the most closely-fought top flight for nine years. The fact the packed schedule will prevent the Ibrox club being able to play this outstanding fixture – at home to St Johnstone – for at least two months could play in his club’s favour, Lennon accepts.

“Possibly it helps us, but a lot can happen between now and then,” he said. “It’s not a guarantee that we both just keep getting exactly the same results before then – we know what we have to do, and that’s our whole focus. We can’t think about what other teams are doing. We have to play to the best of our abilities and if that doesn’t happen, we need to find a way to win.

“We’ve got good experience. We were in this position this time last year as well, which will stand them in good stead going forward. The most important thing is [to hold your nerve], you can’t look too far ahead. You haven’t got a crystal ball to know how things are going to go.

“You need to know who’s fit, who’s available, get your best players on the pitch, analyse the opposition, find their strengths and weaknesses, do that one game – and then move on to the next one, as best you can.”

Lennon doesn’t pretend that he can shut out what goes on in Rangers’ league games too. He confesses he won’t be keeping his television switched off on days when Celtic aren’t in action. “I don’t think you can ignore Rangers’ results,” he said. “If you do, someone will remind you anyway. If they’re playing before [or after] us, I’d watch. You have to.”