Emilio Izaguirre Pic: © SNS Group
As clubs continue their search for new recruits during the transfer window, STV has asked a fan from each SPL club to give their own wishlist for the January sales.
Michael Gunn, who writes Celtic tactics blog TicTacTic,gives his opinion on what business manager Neil Lennon should be looking at this month.
Which area of the team does your team need to strengthen?
The first, and overwhelming priority, is a target-man forward. Georgios Samaras has fulfilled the role to some extent, but when he’s not on form or unavailable, there is a lack of physical presence up front. Midway through this season it appeared that another top drawer centre-back was of equal importance, but Lennon and his defence seem to have played their way out of danger, so it’s unlikely that another centre-back will be coming in.
There are other areas of slightly less importance: a genuine left-back to cover Emilio Izaguirre for example (seeing as Charlie Mulgrew, Adam Matthews and Joe Ledley prefer playing elsewhere) but I’ve written recently about Lennon’s search for another creative attacker; a tricky number 10. Rabiu Ibrahim (currently on trial) is just the latest in a long list of such players.
Do you see your team doing any business in the transfer window?
Celtic are always looking to bring in cheap (and generally young) bargains such as Mikael Lustig or Ibrahim and so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Peter Lawwell snapping up some younger talent. In terms of big money signings, the combination of a fairly frugal board and the lack of value in the January window makes any big movement unlikely.
Who would be a (semi-realistic) fantasy signing for your team in January?
Most Celtic fans are holding out for long-term target (and targetman) Baba Diawara who might set the board back something like £1-2m. There has also been chatter on the grapevine about Albanian striker Hamdi Salihi who has a very impressive goalscoring record for Rapid Wien.
Finally the more far-fetched entries on the wish-list include flavour-of-the-month recent Scotland call-up Jordan Rhodes, and the perma-injured, highly paid, but brilliant goalkeeper Craig Gordon.
Are there any players coming back from injury who could be “like new players” coming back to the squad?
The obvious candidate is Emilio Izaguirre. Last season’s SPFA and SPL Player of the Year, there’s not a side in the world who wouldn’t struggle to cope with the loss of their (and the league’s) best player. The second candidate, who strictly speaking hasn’t been kept out with a single injury, is Kris Commons. He’s yet to display the devastating form shown between January and May last term, and if Celtic can get the same player back, it’ll be like a brand new signing.
Who does your team absolutely have to keep hold of during the January transfer window?
With Celtic having good strength in most areas, there aren’t many players that particularly standout. An in-form Izaguirre will prove practically impossible to replace (given the club’s previous problems at left-back), and while it would be tough to lose the likes of Ki Sung-Yeung or Adam Matthews, there are capable replacements. Beram Kayal’s serious injury will stave off speculation until at least the summer.
It’s up top that Celtic are most fragile - Gary Hooper and Anthony Stokes have provided the vast majority of goals in the past 2 seasons, so in the unlikely event that one of those were to leave, it would be a struggle to find a similarly potent striker.
Who should they be looking to move on?
It’s a good time to be a Celtic player after the recent usurping of Rangers at the top of the table, but there are one or two players on the fringes who supporters have probably lost patience with. With the right-back position already over-manned, one of these players, Cha Du Ri (whose contract is running out) may cashed in, and Glen Loovens has a long way to go to prove his reliability.
But there’s no pressing requirement to move anybody on, though there is a raft of loanees who might see a permanent exit, including Morten Rasmussen, Daryl Murphy, Efrain Juarez and Darren O’Dea.
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