How Celtic plan to move on from striker-gate - but forgiving chief may not avoid hump if summer repeat
A gaggle of reporters waited expectantly in the media room for Brendan Rodgers at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training base on Tuesday. What mood would the Scottish champions’ manager be in the afternoon after the evening before?
Celtic failed to sign a new striker to replace the talismanic figure of Kyogo Furuhashi, who was sold late last month to Rennes for £10 million. Rodgers wanted one, of that there can be little doubt. For multiple reasons, but the overriding being Adam Idah is the sole out-and-out senior option in his squad.
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Hide AdNames such as Brondby’s Mathias Kvistgaarden and Sevilla’s Kelechi Iheanacho were linked with a move to Glasgow as the transfer window drew to a close. Yet as the hours counted down towards Monday’s 11pm deadline, it became increasingly apparent that Celtic weren’t getting their main man. Only 32-year-old left-sided utility player Jeffrey Schlupp arrived.


Underwhelmed would be underplaying the feeling among many Celtic supporters. They are angered that the club appears malnourished in one of the key areas of the team. Idah has scored some important goals in his year at Celtic but up until last week, he was on a 14-game barren run.
Rodgers entered the press room punctually at 3.30pm and fielded all manner of questions on the fruitless search for a striker. “Listen, I don't want to pin blame on anyone here,” he mused. The Northern Irishman was reluctant to explicitly reveal what went wrong in the final days of the window, admitting there are many moving parts to a transfer. Although he pointedly said: “I don't think there's anything new that sprung up to surprise anyone. We understood what we needed to improve the squad. We're clear on that. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen for us.”
It is well known that Celtic have money to spend with a healthy bank balance. Their club record fee was smashed not once but twice by the arrivals of Idah (£9m) and midfielder Arne Engels (£11m) in the summer. The current hierarchy are prudent spenders - some would say cautious. The suggestion is that Kvistgaarden, a long-term target of the club, had become too pricey, with his club Brondby wanting £14m for his services.
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Hide AdRodgers did not believe Celtic were being held to ransom for doing business in January. “No, no, I didn't think that,” he said. “There's a myth around you can't get good players in January, which I would totally disagree with. I think you can.
“In virtually all my career, I've got really good players - some world-class players - in the January window. But it's sometimes about the availability, it's sometimes about the affordability. And then there is a little bit of a premium in January, of course, in this period where you may have to pay a little bit more. That's natural.
“But I didn't think there was anything too outward to what would hurt us as a club.”
Rodgers has made no secret of his desire to continually improve his squad. Last summer he called upon the board to open the chequebook and back him and Engels, Idah, Paulo Bernardo and Auston Trusty duly arrived. The winter signing of Jota from Rennes for £8m should be seen as a fillip but not having a bona-fide striker to compete with Idah is some people’s idea of negligence.
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Rodgers tried to stay philosophical. Celtic have 14 games left in the league, starting against Dundee on Wednesday, a Scottish Cup tilt and salivating Champions League play-off date with Bayern Munich to look forward. The 52-year-old fears the perils of negative energy.
"Obviously, I know the demands of here,” he said. “I know the ambition that I have for here. And I think what's very, very important is that what you learn through experience is the emotional transfer. Because if you have the hump, with the greatest respect, then as the coach and the leader, my leadership style is very much a motivational style where I like to teach, I like to inspire, and I like to motivate. Now, you've got to be in a good mood for that, in the main.
“With experience, you learn not to kill your joy over things that you can't actually control. We're sat in here now. We do absolutely nothing about it. So I go out that door and I've still got the same group of players, which I'm really happy with. So I don't want to put any clouds over that there, and take a narrative which is negative.”
It was put to Rodgers that Idah might be wrapped up in cotton wool ahead of Bayern. With usual winger Daizen Maeda suspended - the other No 9 candidate within the squad - such action could be understandable. "No. You've got to be robust. You can't want to play every game and then look for a rest,” smiled Rodgers.
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Hide AdWhile the virtues of young Johnny Kenny were extolled by Rodgers, it is clear Maeda has a significant part to play in his striking conundrum. “I actually can see a lot of more natural, instinctive, striker movements that he has and how he plays the game,” Rodgers said of his livewire Japanese. “And I think if you track back to when he came in, if you look back on your stats, I think you'll see his numbers from when he came in, from Yokohama, he was playing as a striker. He was up to 23 goals in something like 33 games or something.


“He's a goalscorer. He scores a header like Henrik Larsson the other day. So, I don't think you can doubt he might not do some other bits that other strikers will do and be a traditional number nine.”
Rodgers was searching for sunlight amid an array of clouds. “The flexibility is important, especially if you want to have a tight squad,” he closed off. “It's probably a little tighter than what I would like, if I'm honest, but the players can do that [be flexible].”
Whether Celtic’s actions this winter will damage them this season remains to be seen. But already pressure and scrutiny is on those involved with recruitment for the summer. Rodgers may not be so publicly forgiving next time around.
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