The Scottish champions have yet to make any moves in the summer market with some key positions in dire need of recruits.
Charlie Mulgrew sees Brendan Rodgers’ hunger to mastermind long-term success having just pulled off one of his greatest Celtic achievements.
And the former Parkhead ace is adamant there’s no need for alarm amongst fans over a lack of transfer activity because the boss will make them stronger for the big kick-off. Having sealed a Double on his return, Rodgers is now eyeing the next phase of his Celtic push. Mulgrew has seen close up the desire of the gaffer to take the next steps having witnessed the manager’s stamp over the squad.
During his Pro Licence course, the ex-defender had chats with the Celtic manager and could clearly see his drive to progress the club in Europe and keep the domestic trophies flowing. Mulgrew explained: “I can’t speak for him but Brendan looks to me as if he wants to be here for the long-term. He wants to really make the club better right through from the youths, to challenge in Europe and be successful.
“The team reflects its leader. Whatever the leader is doing on a daily basis, and that’s everything, the players are watching and listening. There are situations when calmness is required. There are times when he had a go at the players.
“So there’s different ways and different types of things needed. He obviously got it bang on last year. They got the job done. It’s one of Rodgers’ greatest achievements at Celtic, even though he’s won double Trebles and whatever.
“He did say to the fans he’d see them back in May. They weren’t maybe fully behind him but he came back with a Double and showed a lot of resilience.
“I’m a big believer in the team representing the leader and I think Celtic represented him well in terms of how resilient they could be. Right up to the Scottish Cup Final, that maybe summed up the season.
“It maybe wasn’t the greatest day for Celtic and Rangers maybe looked the better team at times, but Celtic go and score a last-minute winner. He won that after being behind, having not had settled wingers, James Forrest coming in at the end, Cameron Carter-Vickers injured, Liam Scales stepping up out of nowhere.
“It was a big achievement for him. He really showed his worth as a coach and a manager. It was brilliant [to visit him] a few months ago. It was interesting to see how a top manager works and operates. There were loads of questions, l took a lot of notes.”
Rodgers has made it clear he will go into the market for new signings, but, at this stage, none have arrived. However, Mulgrew, recently appointed Hamilton Under-18 coach, said: “It is such a complex situation because look at the signings they made last year.
“Look how many people are in the building this year that they might need to move on. I’d imagine some players need to go out because they want to play football and that’s not easy because they want to at least stay on the same money. Who wants to buy them?
“There will be some who may get in the team who had a bad first year but now all of a sudden have settled in. Who would’ve thought Scales would have played last year and been one of the main players? So many things can happen.
“I understand the Celtic fans want players in the building but, again, that is happening at other clubs. So if Celtic are trying to sign a player, other teams will be wanting them as well.
“For example, if Celtic say we’ll pay £4million for someone, even if he’s only worth £1m, the club will say: Well, if we are getting offered £4m now, we are going to wait. That’s why these things drag out.
“It’s not as easy as saying ‘I want these five targets’ and bang they are in for the first day of pre-season. It just doesn’t happen like that. Celtic will be in a stronger position, you’d imagine. They’ll try and get the business done, at least a couple and maybe a couple will leave, naturally. Even though it was a busy end to the season, the whole summer they would be trying to get these things moving quickly.”
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