‘Wouldn’t have believed you’ - James McFadden express shock at sudden Celtic decline
Celtic are winless in Europe and trailing in this year’s title race
Former Scotland international James McFadden says he can’t believe the speed in which Celtic have declined.
Back in May, Celtic were crowned champions of the Scottish Premiership for a fourth straight season, winning the league by a 17-point margin, they also lifted the League Cup earlier in the campaign, held their own in the Champions League before falling short in the play-offs and were on the brink of a domestic treble before falling short against Aberdeen. However, McFadden feels the club has taken a huge step backwards this summer, claiming it’s a scenario that very few would have seen coming at the start of last season.
In an appearance on BBC Sportsound podcast, the former Motherwell, Birmingham City and Everton ace explained: "The way that we're speaking about Celtic, and I'm sure that, you know, the fans... I can't believe we're speaking about Celtic like this right now. “If you went back to before the Cup final, fast forward to October and you're talking about Celtic not winning in the first two Europa League games, misfiring, losing their best players, not replacing them, I wouldn't have believed you. So I can't believe they've actually got themselves into this position.”
What’s gone wrong at Celtic this summer?
Celtic were already slightly low on striking options when they allowed Kyōgo Furuhashi to join Rennes in January but their summer activity has only exacerbated the club’s striker concerns.
The Hoops allowed both Adam Idah and most importantly Nicolas Kuhn to leave the club over the summer. Between them the pair had scored 26 league goals and contributed nine assists.
Their only replacement was winger Benjamin Nygren from Danish side FC Nordsjælland and though he made a strong start, the club’s concerns in attack were only further damaged when January addition Jota sustained a long-term injury.
Callum Osmand, a youngster from Fulham, was signed but is still awaiting his senior debut, while Kelechi Iheanacho, a one-time FA Cup winner with Leicester City also arrived on a free, but he’s only scored eight career goals across the last two seasons of his playing career and hasn’t so far proved to be an adequate replacement.
Ultimately, Celtic’s net spend on transfers for the year was just over £7m, with £31.5m of their £38.6m investment recouped by sales. This lack of investment had a detrimental effect on the team’s Champions League qualification bid as well following a shock play-off defeat against Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty which consigned the team to a lower European competition.
Celtic have started slowly in the Europa League, failing to win any of their opening two games. Meanwhile, in the Premiership they’ve won four and drawn two, but have found the net just eight times and have been held to two 0-0 draws already this term.