Celtic board blamed by ex-chief for 'disgraceful' development

Celtic should invert their transfer strategy and invest in the squad before their European qualifiers.

That is according to former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Hoops’ resistance to spending money on the squad early in the transfer window is ill-advised.

Celtic crashed out of the Champions League qualifiers last week as they were knocked out by LASK, despite leading the tie 4-0 at one point.

Plenty of people have taken a share of the blame for this embarrassment. However, the board have received a big chunk of the criticism for their lack of investment in the squad ahead of the tie.

Despite losing players such as Daizen Maeda and Arne Engels for big fees, the Hoops had only made four first-team signings ahead of the playoff.

Celtic had hoped to spend big if they had subsequently qualified for the Champions League’s league phase, a plan that clearly backfired.

Celtic told to invert transfer policy

Aberdeen's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that Celtic must bring in players early in preparation for their European qualifiers.

Despite this being a risk, the former boardroom member believes it would be calculated, as it should increase the odds of the club securing European qualification and therefore more funds.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, he explained why it’s important that Celtic now look to spend their funds early in the summer transfer window.

He said: “They're banking these savings early in June and then they're trying to spend them in August, late August, September. 

“It's wrong because they've got this European clash, and as we just discussed about the Scottish coefficient, it means that they're playing their big European fixtures earlier than ever, and so they're not preparing the squad. 

“You've got to invert the situation of actually buying and spending earlier and then selling and getting prices, even taking a loss if you had to, later near the end of the window once you've qualified for Europe.

“Their first priority should be qualifying for Europe, not balancing the books, because Europe will balance the books for them. 

“The LASK display where they got beaten 5-4 was disgraceful, and Celtic fans will know that, and it does appear to be a direct result of the board's policies.”

When could Celtic’s European qualification campaign start next season?

If Celtic are to win the Scottish Premiership this season, their campaign will start a lot earlier.

The winner of the division is now put into the Champions League second qualifying round rather than the playoffs, after Scotland’s coefficient collapsed.

Therefore, Celtic’s season could kick off in mid to late July, with the club needing to win three qualification rounds to enter the Champions League’s league phase.

As a result, it could be more important than ever next season that Celtic get their business done as early as possible to prepare for these fixtures.