Neil Lennon admits Celtic transfers have been disappointing as something isn't right inside Parkhead
The Hoops icon thinks there’s been something fishy going on with recruitment since the summer transfer window.
Neil Lennon has slammed Celtic’s ‘disappointing’ recruitment over the course of this season following their Europa League exit. It was a valiant effort from The Hoops against Stuttgart as Luke McCowan’s early goal gave them their first European away knockout stage victory since 2023, however it wasn’t enough to overturn the 4-1 hammering they were on the end of in the first leg at Celtic Park.
There were many questions being asked before the game regarding Martin O’Neill’s team selection - whether he would have one eye on Sunday’s all important Old Firm Derby at Ibrox. The veteran boss made a couple of notable changes including bringing in Viljami Sinisalo between the sticks, Colby Donovan and Dane Murray in defence and Junior Adamu up front.
While Celtic still won the game, after a January window of loan after loan, the lack of depth in the European squad further raised questions about the club’s recruitment. Lennon, who brought in the likes of Virgil Van Dijk and Victor Wanyama during his first Celtic stint, is aware that the Hoops model relies on offloading players for profit and reinvesting in young prospects, however he believes this season something has gone wrong.
‘The recruitment has been disappointing’
Speaking on Premier Sports Ireland, he explained: “Something wasn’t right in the summer. I’m not sure what it was. There was disagreements within house, with Brendan Rodgers, who was definitely disconnected and you could see that towards the end of his tenure. Also, there’s no Director of Football at the minute, that needs to be addressed.
“Overall, I think the recruitment has been disappointing. Of course, you’re not going to get it right every year. But I do add value to some of the fans questioning decisions that have been made as to why we haven’t spent more money or why we haven’t brought more quality in.
“Certainly with (Cameron) Carter-Vickers being out. He’s been a big loss. Celtic knew he’d be out long term and they’ve still not brought in a mature centre half to compliment Scales. They might’ve tried to do that. Okay January can be a tough window to navigate but they are valid questions to be asked of the board.”
Celtic can’t emulate success of European surprise package
Lennon was then asked by host Aisling O’Reilly what’s holding Celtic back from becoming the next Bodo Glimt - the Champions League surprise packages who’ve just knocked out Inter Milan. To which he responded: “Bodo Glimt are maybe an exception to the rule this year.
“They have their own way of doing things in terms of salary caps - can’t do that at Celtic. They’ve basically only got Norwegian and Danish players, so what would Celtic do? Just reset and only sign Scottish and Irish players. And then you’ve got to develop a four or five year plan.”
“Are the Celtic fans going to be willing to sacrifice domestic dominance to build a team for Europe in four or five years time. That’s the question. Since 2000, we’ve been to three Champions League last 16s and a UEFA Cup final. When we got to the knockout stages in 2012, the following summer we sold Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper and Kelvin Wilson, because it’s not sustainable.”