Brendan Rodgers could not have been any clearer about the impressive impact last summer’s pre-season work had on the way Celtic stylishly set about their business.
Fast forward 12 months and I’d say it’s even-more important this time around.
Which is why I can understand some edginess that has been creeping into supporters as time ticks past with noise on the signing front remaining relatively quiet. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’s at full volume in the background as Rodgers’ recruitment team set about delivering the quality he wants. Benjamin Nygren’s sealed deal says as much. A positive sign.
I feel like I say this every year, but there really is no time to waste. Especially not this time with the sceptre of the Champions League qualifiers being back.
Those games are enough to make you feel a bit queasy. I know, I’ve been there and I’ve been on the wrong end of them. It’s not fun.
As much as putting Ajax out for the first time was an incredible high, losing out to FC Basel was a kick in the guts, even if it did send us into the UEFA Cup and on a run to a final.
Celtic didn’t just hit the ground running last season. They absolutely sprinted into top gear from the first whistle. Granted, the signings weren’t all in place by that time either with the likes of Adam Idah and Arne Engels arriving after the campaign was underway, but the work done in the build-up weeks was absolutely vital.
That’s not just me saying that, that’s coming from the manager himself. Rodgers told us in no uncertain terms that the patterns of play used in the United States in games against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City were priceless when it came to going into the league phase of the Champions League.
The way Nicolas Kuhn’s role was defined and perfected to ensure he began the season like an express train and barely stopped until running out of gas a bit near the end. Celtic won 16 of their first 18 Premiership matches and put the title to bed during that run, It was job done and Rodgers is going to want the same again.
For that to happen in the way he plans, I’d be sure he wants many of the men he is going to be relying upon to be in the camp when they make their trips to Portugal and Italy.
Look, again, I’m not daft. I understand how the market works.
I’m fully aware that Celtic will have targets who, at this stage, might not be unavailable due to their own clubs not having made up their mind, or that agents are playing a waiting game and trying to smoke out the best deals, waiting to see if they can generate as much interest as possible for their client.
Unless Celtic are going to start paying silly money, I’d imagine they may have to wait, perhaps even until the end of the window, for some of the key targets.
But it still feels a little lacking to me at this precise point of proceedings and, at the very least, Rodgers will surely want the majority in his squad for the start of the domestic season.
Having the unit functioning smoothly and working in tandem is vital. There are competitive domestic games before the qualifiers, but Rodgers has been in this movie before and he is going to want to be as tooled up as possible for when they come around.
Yes staying top of the pile in the Scotland is the key. That’s the bread and butter and it always has to be the priority. But I stood five yards from Rodgers on the pitch at Tannadice on the day Celtic clinched the title and you could not hide the excitement he had about the prospect of going back into the Champions League next season and kicking on from last term’s efforts.
Celtic got their pride back. It’s what the manager wanted and now it’s about building. But you can’t do that if you aren’t in it. Rodgers doesn’t need me to tell him what it’s like to have to deal with these qualifiers without a full deck of cards. He’s been there.
When he walked in the door the first time, the juggling act and scrambling to make it to the group-phase through the final qualifiers against Astana and Hapoel Be’er Sheva having lost a first-leg tie to Lincoln Red Imps shredded the nerves.
Kolo Toure parachuted into the squad in the midst of it. Same the following year. Battling to get through, having to play Tom Rogic basically up front. Eventually, it caught up with Celtic when AEK Athens put them out in Rodgers’ last attempt before he left.
Now returned, he’s back in that pressure pot and, at this stage, there looks like there’s plenty to be done. Kieran Tierney has signed, but who is the back up with Greg Taylor leaving? Nygren now in with Ross Doohan, yet the new striker that was wanted in January when Kyogo left will still be wanted. Other areas of the side to be addressed.
It seems there is much to do and there’s too much going on the line for Celtic not to try and get as much of it done as soon as possible.
Rodgers and his team are heading into that pre-season campaign shortly. For it to have the same maximum effect as it had a year ago, having some more of the targeted new faces on the pre-season flights wouldn’t go amiss.