McLeish salutes Celtic chief Nicholson after ‘incredible’ New Year transfer reveal
Alex McLeish has hailed the Celtic board for putting faith in Ange Postecoglou with the capture of three Japanese players.
The former Scotland manager, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested injuries to key players may have convinced chief executive Michael Nicholson to get business done quickly at Parkhead.
Celtic announced on Friday (31 December) they have secured the signings of Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda.
Speaking to the club site, Postecoglou hinted he was the driving force behind the signings, revealing he is “well aware of their attributes” after managing in Japan.
The new signings join with Celtic missing the likes of David Turnbull and Jota due to injury.
McLeish hailed the Bhoys’ board for backing Postecoglou and getting him the signings he wanted.
“The thing is maybe he’s had these plans for a while,” McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge.
“Even with or without the likes of Turnbull, he has had players in his head when he came that he could see being in his Celtic team or squad.
“It is possible that has fallen into his hands a wee bit. The chief executive might say, ‘I’ve got to help this guy, we’ve got to work together’.
“The one thing you do like as a manager is support from the team above you. That the management are really with you. This is incredible, really.”
Maeda has joined on a loan with an obligation to buy, while the other two have signed permanent deals.
They follow Kyogo Furuhashi in making the move from Japan to Glasgow.
In other news, Frank McAvennie claims two Celtic players’ careers over after surprise development.