BRENDAN RODGERS admitted his moves in the transfer window haven’t quite gone to plan.
The Celtic boss had hoped to have assembled a squad ready for the Champions League qualifiers in the summer by the time the deadline arrives on Tuesday night.
He wanted new recruits to have time to settle at the club, but his only transfer window signing to date is midfielder, Eboue Kouassi, the £2.8million Ivory Coast midfielder.
Rodgers revealed: “It won’t be as I want it, I don’t think, by the end of the window.
“If we don’t get the players I would want through them not being available, then okay. I’m happy with the players in the squad we have.
“I’ll just have to wait until the summer in order to do the next bit. It’s through no fault of the club.
“This window is always tough and I won’t just bring in anyone. It has to be a player who’s going to improve our squad.
“If he isn’t available, for whatever reason, then there’s not much you can do. It’s not Football Manager on the computer, where you just pull them out and transfer them. It’s a wee bit more than that.
“We just have to wait and be patient.”
Celtic are on course to make history today. If they can avoid defeat against Hearts then they will beat the club record set by the Lisbon Lions side in December 1966.
The odds on that happening are good but perhaps a greater target is to complete the season undefeated in Scottish Football. It’s possible if not entirely probable and you can check out what the experts think at places like topratedbingosites.co.uk for those who fancy making a few bob on the hoops.
Celtic’s wonderful run in 1966 is detailed on the Celticwiki site.
This afternoon the Hoops have a more immediate aim when they face Hearts at Parkhead.
They’re out to surpass the Lisbon Lions’ record of going 26 domestic matches without defeat.
The run was equalled against St Johnstone in midweek, but will be beaten with a victory over the Tynecastle outfit.
Rodgers added: “I love seeing reminders of the past achievements around the club. I regularly bump into guys like Bobby Lennox.
“It’s a huge part of the history here, but we have create our own.
“I think what the boys have done so far is a huge achievement, irrespective of what happens this weekend.
“This is a chance for them to stand alone and that is obviously an incredible achievement with all the difficulties you can have in modern football, with everyone fighting to beat you.
“To have gone 26 games unbeaten so far has been great. So we will do what we’ve always done. There’s no change. We focus on our performance.
“I don’t tend to talk about it before the game. It can give a pressure that the players don’t need.
“My focus is always to de-pressure the situation so that players can perform.”
