Football Season Guide

Celtic come into the new season as defending champions, having eased to the title last year by another sizeable margin. Indeed, it was a strong campaign overall, with League Cup glory and progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League soured only by a Scottish Cup final loss to Aberdeen on penalties. Expectations for Brendan Rodgers’ side are huge, though, with fans demanding a domestic clean sweep. Over the summer, Celtic have lost a valuable attacking weapon in the form on Nicklas Kuhn and the board has faced criticism for a penny-pinching approach to replacing him. The addition of Benjamin Nygren is an interesting one but there is some concern that the Hoops have not invested heavily enough to capitalise on their advantageous position over their rivals (and particularly Rangers). One of their strengths last season was that they were not reliant on one player for goals or assists, instead sharing them out. That is likely to be the same this time around, although Celtic looked invariably stronger when Daezan Maeda played as a centre-forward as opposed to Adam Idah. Rodgers seems to prefer the Ireland international in that role, though. Certainly, it appears that Celtic could do with at least another winger, although Shin Yamada and Callum Osmand add depth through the middle. There is no change in midfield, which was perhaps the club’s strongest area last term, but the defence has had additions. Hayato Inamura was a strong performer in the J-League last season and is added to the central defensive roster, where Cameron Carter-Vickers will remain the lynchpin. Austin Trusty, though, was something of a weak link last term. Intriguingly, Celtic have allowed Greg Taylor to leave the club and have signed former academy star Kieran Tierney. While Tierney is no doubt an upgrade, his injury history is alarming and the main reason he was allowed to leave by Arsenal. This is therefore a signing not without risk.