You say you got a real solution: Mowbray's torn up the first draft of his Celtic revolution
The January transfer window has rarely been a time of revolution for most of the big clubs in Britain. Usually at this time of the year we see managers looking for bargains, snapping players up on pre-contracts and reinforcing their squads against injury. But such is the nature of the situation at Celtic, that Tony Mowbray has decided on a transfer strategy that can only be described as risky.
Since taking the job in the summer, he has continually berated the squad of players he has at his disposal, citing January as the opportunity to put his stamp on the team and clear the deadwood from the club. To put it mildly, the squad Mowbray inherited looked short of ideas and in particular, short of a special player to give fans hope. There was no talisman like Larsson, Moravcik or Nakamura, but still the manager vowed to have the team playing the fast, free-flowing attacking football that has been synonymous with Celtic throughout the decades.
Sadly for Tony, the idealistic football he preaches did not filter through onto the park, and has lead Celtic to their worst start to a league campaign since a certain John Barnes was seated in the dugout. The summit of the SPL has been as far as 10 points away from us at times, so whether it’s an act of bravery, or merely a last ditch attempt to stay in the job, the under-fire manager has thrown caution to the wind and revamped our under performing side in this transfer window - but will the gamble pay off?
So far we have added Ki Sung-Yueng, Morten Rasmussen, Thomas Rogne and Jos Hooiveld to the roster in January, with first team regulars like Gary Caldwell and Barry Robson heading for the exit. Stephen McManus and Danny Fox are also said to be on their way out, but is January really the right time to make such wholesale changes? Previous January transfer windows have taught us that managers are reluctant to lose players in the middle of a season, while many top players also prefer to wait until the summer to switch their allegiances. Is there better quality out there that Mowbray is unwilling to wait for?
The absence of a marquee signing during this window has also concerned many fans, but I feel this could be a blessing in disguise. Recent ‘big name’ signings like Gravesen and Juninho brought us very little success and put a huge financial strain on the wage bill. Bringing in young players with great potential and a desire to prove themselves is the right way to improve the fortunes of the club, both on and off the park. If the young players we’ve signed in this window do live up to their potential, they could bring success to the club for years to come in SPL and Champions League campaigns.
The only danger is that at a club like Celtic, success is demanded immediately. Sometimes it does take a young foreign player longer to settle into a new side, you need only to look as far as Stan Petrov for an example of this. In his first two seasons at Celtic Park, the young Bulgarian was considered average at best. Fast forward a few seasons and Petrov became an integral part of a successful Celtic side. Now at Aston Villa, he is currently club captain, last season’s player of the year, and is regarded as one of the best central midfielders that the English Premier League has to offer.
With attendance figures dwindling at Celtic Park and with Rangers still holding a commanding lead at the top of the SPL, the dangers of leaving any major transfer dealings until this summer are clear for all to see. The inactivity of Gordon Strachan in the transfer market during his last season arguably cost us the league championship, and is a huge factor in the dismal start to this year’s campaign. I doubt that you’d find many people who’d argue that the team Mogga inherited is good enough to win the league and the big Englishman will know all too well the risks involved in being non-active in the transfer market from his playing days at the club.
The 1988 season saw us win the domestic league and cup double but, as a result of inactivity in the transfer market in following seasons, Rangers took the initiative, strengthened their squad and went on to win nine consecutive league titles. Tony Mowbray signed for Celtic for £1 million in 1991, but by this time the wheels were already in motion at Ibrox to build a team who would go on to dominate the domestic scene for the best part of a decade.
It may be said that Mowbray is taking a huge gamble in such drastic changes this transfer window, but past history indicates that the real gamble is to be inactive at this time - and that is a gamble that we cannot afford to lose.
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