IT WAS again another difficult summer transfer window for Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers as he again quite clearly did not get the kind of backing he would have wanted, particularly in light of the Champions League revenues that we received from our incredibly enjoyable run to the Play Off stage of the competition.
We had long drawn out deals that did not get over the line, we saw players move on that we should have fought heaven and earth to keep (and we could have lost more) and in amongst the fan protests that are currently taking place and the issues that they raise, whilst our 52 year old gaffer has never quite been slow in coming forward about his irritations with our transfer business, we now seem to have a divide between players he wanted and players that were ‘club’ signings.
This has not helped our start to the year of 2025/25 and we find ourselves in second place in the Scottish Premiership table already trailing top spot by two points after seven games. For those who thought we would have decent champions league odds this year, we have crashed out of the competition and are yet to win a game in the eminently more winnable, but less lucrative, Europa League tournament. It has all gone very wrong, very quickly and many fans would say that they have seen the last few weeks coming for a long time.
The other problem is off pitch issues between the fans and the board cannot fail to have an impact on the squad either, irrespective of how they brush it off and Rodgers himself has spoken of trying to serve a ‘unifying’ role as a bridge between the issues.
With the October international break now with us, another element of concern surrounded Daizen Maeda’s unexpected reveal last month that he was set for a deadline departure, but that it was only blocked because we could not get a replacement over the line in time before the summer transfer window slammed shut. Naturally, many fans then connected the dots to his form so far this season and wondered just how unhappy a player we may now have on our hands. The 27 year old 25 capped Japanese international insisted that he was as committed as ever, but you could sense his disappointment.
Amongst everything else that is going on right now, this pause in the domestic calendar may have shown a green shoot of life though. Back on international duty for his country, Maeda was again tasked by the media for further thoughts about how his move had fallen down and how he felt about it. Interestingly he seemed far more inclined to rule out that he would be again looking for a move in the January window – which for understandable reasons, many fans had assumed would be what happened.
Maeda is again beginning to show signs of recapturing his form and long may that continue, and if he now has his head on a swivel again as we move forward, we all know that this can only benefit us given the talent that he clearly has. It may not change the future, but it should mean a hell of a lot better until we need to address that situation again.
A little bit of good news could go a long way right now.
