Celtic tumble to a one in 10 transfer hit rate as Brendan Rodgers sees old adage bite amid Champions League strife

Celtic chiefs face a straightforward choice. It’s either buy bigger or buy better.

Brendan Rodgers was not making pointed statements or issuing ultimatums when making it crystal clear the squad needs more quality to produce in the Champions League. He was simply outlining what everyone knows. Compared to the elite, we know Celtic cannot buy straight off the peg performers. But the question for the club now, as it always seems to be, is do they gamble on upping the stakes in terms of transfer fees and salaries for more experience and proven ability.

Or is it to stick with the model of buying younger ones with potential at more-moderate rates. One thing is clear from this campaign and that’s the latter only has a chance of helping at that level if you get planning and delivery spot on.

Which evidence tells you hasn’t been the case over the past year or so. That evidence notes recruitment has to be drastically improved. In the model, timing can be nearly as important as the scouting. Celtic’s plan was not to be out of Europe before the advent calendars are opened. And, while some things can’t be prevented, some can. Celtic’s competitive adventure ended on Tuesday night, but Rome’s not where the issues started.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that, in order to have any chance of getting results at that level, Celtic are going to always need virtually their best team on the park. To that end, injuries to the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate and Liel Abada at various stages of the campaign have been damaging.

But there’s also the basic fact that Celtic were not as well prepared as they should have been for the start of this campaign. The blame for that lies at their own door. Under Ange Postecoglou when the