The lyric from an iconic Manchester post-punk band might not be on many Celtic fans' playlists, but one line from Magazine's "Philadelphia" could inadvertently sum up the mood at Parkhead this summer: "Maybe it's right to be nervous now."
Former Celtic striker Cillian Sheridan has suggested the Scottish champions are making the same mistakes as last season, and the evidence of their transfer activity — or lack of it — lends weight to that view. Celtic have made just one signing since wresting the title from Heart of Midlothian on the final day: Camilo Duran, a forward with recent Champions League goalscoring experience for Qarabag. A second arrival, if you count handing Martin O'Neill the managerial reins full-time after a second fruitful spell as caretaker, does little to assuage fears.
“Celtic have made only one signing this summer, prompting former striker Cillian Sheridan to warn they risk repeating last season's mistakes.”
Unrest is such that lone new arrival Duran expressed surprise at the lack of home fans attending Celtic Park for their 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough in this week's pre-season friendly. The contrast with their two main title rivals is stark. Traditional city rivals Rangers, still smarting from their late-season collapse to finish third, have added seven new faces — paying money for four of them — including last season's Premiership top scorer Lawrence Shankland and goalkeeper Ivor Pandur, who helped Hull City return to the Premier League. Rangers also allowed head coach Danny Rohl to depart for Wolfsburg and then stole Derek McInnes from runners-up Hearts.
Hearts, meanwhile, have brought in 11 new players, paying transfer fees for five, though they sold the same number of first-team players. That high turnover has hardly proved successful so far: the side, now under former Sint-Truiden head coach Wouter Vrancken, were thumped 4-0 away to Sturm Graz in the first leg of their opening Champions League qualifier on Tuesday. However, they will hope the Jamestown Analytics recruitment algorithm again finds hidden gems.
Elsewhere, neighbours Hibernian suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat by Malisheva in their opening Conference League qualifier in Kosovo, while Motherwell won 2-0 at home to a Faroe Islands side. Celtic's own title defence begins at home to Dundee a week on Monday. Whether the champions have done enough to stay ahead remains an open question.