rewrite this title Celtic: What next for Brendan Rodgers and the board as fan frustrations increase? | ‘We lack ambition’

“It’s normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung.”

Chants of sack the board echoed around Celtic Park after their Champions League play-off draw with Kairat Almaty, with Brendan Rodgers suggesting he could be the one made to leave.

There is unrest from the fans due to a lack of summer transfer business, with Rodgers pointing out the failure to strengthen before their first leg was “not my decision” and conceded he has to “accept where it’s at”.

But given Celtic have won their first two Premiership games, have progressed in the League Cup and are just 90 minutes from European football’s elite club competition, are things really as bad as the supporters believe?

What have Celtic done this summer?

Celtic have made seven summer signings, with three being free transfers, and they are yet to replace some notable departures.

Kieran Tierney returned to Parkhead while goalkeeper Ross Doohan is also back at the Hoops on a three-year deal after leaving Aberdeen.

Celtic have also signed winger Benjamin Nygren from FC Nordsjaelland in a deal worth around £2m, defender Hayato Inamura has joined from Albirex Niigata and Shin Yamada has moved from J-League side Kawasaki Frontale.

The club also secured the signing of teenage forward Callum Osmand on a free from Fulham with Jahmai Simpson-Pusey joining on a season-long loan from Manchester City.

Winger Nicolas Kuhn left for Como earlier this month, Kyogo Furuhashi’s successor is yet to be found after his January departure and Jota is expected to miss a large spell of this campaign through injury.

And could a right-back now be on the wanted list after Alistair Johnston was stretchered off during Wednesday night’s game with a hamstring injury?

Do the Celtic board lack ambition?

Rodgers’ post-match comments once again highlighted the strained relationship he has with the board. He has entered the final year of his deal and, while he is “200 per cent” ready to see out this season, he has already said he is ‘not the right guy’ to just maintain something.

“You know these games are tough games and you want to have your best players in and have players in as quick as you can to tackle these sorts of situations,” he said after the disappointing draw.

“But listen, it is what it is and I just have to accept where it’s at and we’ll now get ready for Saturday and then the long haul on Sunday.

“We need to improve the squad. There was clarity around that for a long time.

“So we see that. I think supporters see that. We certainly do in football. We need to improve.

“This is a performance club. This is a club that has to perform. And that starts on the field. You do that with getting the very best players you possibly can to allow you to perform.”

Asked about the fans’ reaction, the Northern Irishman said: “I do know that, over many years, ‘sack the board’ normally means ‘sack the manager’.

“It’s normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung.

“I can only really look at the players we have here, and the performance.

“We’ve known for a long time what we’ve needed as a squad, so I don’t want to go into that.”

What does it mean for Rodgers’ future?

Rodgers wants to be the best, he makes no secret of that. Challenging in the Champions League is his next target with Celtic.

The Scottish champions reached the knockout phase of the tournament last season for the first time in 12 years after losing just twice in eight games in the league format, and were then seconds away from extra-time against Bayern Munich.

After that impressive showing in the Allianz Arena, the 52-year-old outlined his belief that they could reach the next stage of the competition. Fast-forward six months and they have so far failed to strengthen for that possibility.

Celtic podcaster Paul John Dykes told Sky Sports News the supporters are right to be concerned.

“Brendan Rodgers is the only spokesperson at Celtic at the moment, I think he’s becoming frustrated answering the same questions every day when it comes to recruitment.

“Why can’t we get the deals over the line? This is a big issue.

“As fans, I think we’re balanced. I think they look at it and say, well, some players will be hedging their bets to see if Celtic get into the Champions League proper and I totally understand that, but Celtic need to be decisive in the transfer market.

“I think that we lack ambition. I don’t think that the boardroom has the same ambition as Brendan Rodgers and certainly the same ambition as a lot of the fans.

“It was clear for everyone to see that we were at that cusp, we were seconds away from taking Bayern Munich into extra time that night.

“We could all see as fans where we had to strengthen and we’ve still not strengthened seven months later and that’s hugely frustrating.”

What has to change?

There is no doubt the silence from the Celtic board has been deafening.

Chief executive Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell are at almost every game, but neither have addressed any of the issues raised by the manager or the fans.

There is also majority shareholder Dermot Desmond. Rodgers was his appointment but even he must realise he is losing faith with the desire to take the club to the next level.

Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony believes there is a simple way to ease the tension. Communication.

“I always say, just be transparent,” he told Sky Sports News.

“If you’ve got an issue as a club or you don’t want to spend £100m you’ve got sitting there, just tell them why.

“Just say to the fans, look, we need a bit of patience. We can’t quite get deals done. People maybe have turned us down. We can’t hit those wage metrics because it would then affect the rest of the squad.

“Just come out and talk to the fans.”