Celtic transfer failure is not their fault as Hotline ranter points the finger at unexpected perpetrator

The Celtic transfer fallout continues after their failure to secure the striker Brendan Rodgers wanted.

Jeffrey Schlupp was the only Deadline Day arrival and it left fans fuming despite their team being in a strong position on the park. Rodgers wasn't playing the blame game, but the Hotline is, although the Parkhead board are for once, not the ones in the firing line.

Jimmy Murray, Edinburgh, reckons it's everyone else's fault Celtic couldn't sign any of the multitude of names they were linked with. He emailed: "No point having a go at the Celtic board on transfers. Scottish football itself is the problem. There is no competition here. So with no competition no one gets to the next level. Celtic are miles ahead of the pack with an average team. You have to go back to the sixties when our league was at its height Rangers and Dundee made the European Cup semis.

"Celtic won the European Cup. Kilmarnock, Hibs and Hearts and the rest of the league were very good sides. . Back then there was real competition. Now it’s a pub league."

Bill Lockerbie, Northampton, was very much taking aim at the Parkhead hierarchy, however. He said: "A club like no other is the club like no other that came out of the transfer window, weaker than they went in. I feel for Brendan who talks incessantly about motivation, yet receives none from his employers!"

An impeding European exit is the reason Celtic couldn't secure the stars they wanted, according to George Wilson, West Sussex, who said: "It looks like the great Celtic Champions League Roadshow will soon be grinding to a halt. Having been given a bye into the playoffs by virtue of three home games and nine points against the worst 3 teams in the competition they will now have to play a