IF BRENDAN RODGERS rewards selfless effort and professional endeavour, then Celtic will have over £30million worth of talent sitting on the substitutes’ bench against Hearts at Parkhead this afternoon.
Surely the best Arne Engels, Adam Idah, Auston Trusty, Luke McCowan and Luis Palma – precisely £31million in reported transfer fees in just over a year – can hope for is a view from the touchline as the action gets underway.
Naturally, I’m not privy to the strategies and schemes formulated by the manager as he prepares for another challenge, but I can’t see any way Liam Scales, Paulo Bernardo or Kyogo Furuhashi will fail to be in place when the first shrill of the referee’s whistle reverberates around the stadium today.
That may be a frustrating possibility – or probability, if you prefer – for Trusty, eager to make a debut, record signing Engels and Idah, still searching for his first goal as a permanent member of the his boyhood heroes.
BATTLE CRY…Brendan Rodgers is bidding for more success.
But the aforementioned Scales, Bernardo and Kyogo did very little wrong – and a whole lot right – in the 3-0 rout of Philippe Clement’s clueless also-rans at a bouncing Celtic Park in the previous outing just under a fortnight ago.
They should be a shoo-in against the Edinburgh club, irrespective of how much the champions have had to disturb their financial reserves to deliver a pool of players equipped for the rigours of domestic and European competition.
It didn’t seem all that long ago, around about transfer deadline day near the end of last month, that thumbs hovered nervously over well-worn panic buttons as Mr Angry of Row E and his fellow perma-annoyed cohorts prepared to spew vitriol and invective at the club’s powerbrokers.
Chairman Peter Lawwell encountered a few followers before the 3-0 victory over St Mirren in Paisley and was offered some free fiscal advice by a particularly animated member of the gathering to “get the f****n’ money spent”.
RECORD BUY…£11million recruit Arne Engels is raring to go.
The gratis guidance of this financial guru was obviously taken on board and, mercifully, it has all gone quiet on that front. For the time being, anyhow.
One look at the stand-by squad today should deliver a view of an embarrassment of riches. Admittedly, there appeared to be a dearth of quality performers before some dexterous work was completed in a complicated market place.
The money merry-go-round will now remain static until 2025 makes an appearance.
The ball is now at the feet of the manager. Brendan gets big bucks for putting the jigsaw together on a game-by-game basis.
Rodgers now has the task of keeping the plates spinning, recognising the claims of some, reassuring others and placating those who have faded – possibly momentarily – from the first-team picture.
I doubt if the problems will keep the astute Irishman awake at night.
Rodgers demanded reinforcements and had at least one less-than-eloquent ally in Paisley singing from the same hymn sheet when there was vociferous encouragement for the club’s board to “get the f****n’ money spent”.
You and I had a fleeting glimpse of the future against a Govan club that was there for the taking a couple of weeks ago.
WELCOME BACK…Brendan Rodgers greets £3.5million purchase Paulo Bernardo.
We’ll have another view against a Tynecastle outfit who are on their knees with misery piling up since the campaign got underway.
Inexplicably, Steven Naismith’s team was one of only two clubs – the other was last-gasp Lazio – to beat Celtic at Parkhead last season. I doubt if we will view an action replay this time around.
And then we can turn our attention to the Champions League when the elite competition kicks off with a visit from Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.
We’ll never get a better opportunity to make an impact at this level. There will be no excuses if we fail to improve on past failures.
Remaining positive, we must believe the manager has assembled a squad of talented and gifted performers who can compete all the way to the final ball being kicked against Aston Villa in the Midlands around 10pm on January 29 next year.
Just one look at this afternoon’s substitutes’ bench will surely emphasise that fact.
ALEX GORDON
