Celtic’s current inertia and the transformational period under Postecoglou

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The Celtic Star

·29 de julho de 2025

Celtic’s current inertia and the transformational period under Postecoglou

Despite healthy financial reserves and a squad in clear need of first-team upgrades, this summer has so far been defined more by stasis than strategy…

Kieran Tierney during the Celtic fan media conference at Celtic Park on Friday 18 July 2025. Photo Conor Spence (The Celtic Star)

Kieran Tierney’s return from Arsenal — a deal agreed back in January — stands as the headline addition, but beyond that, only the £1.7 million arrival of Benjamin Nygren from Nordsjaelland and potentially Shin Yamada, a £1.5m purchase from Kawasaki Frontale, look like potential first-team contributors.

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Sporting CP v Celtic – Pre-Season Friendly Benjamin Nygren of Celtic FC controls the ball during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Sporting de Lisboa and Celtic FC at Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal, on July 16, 2025. Faro Portugal Photo DAX Images

With the Champions League registration deadline for the play-off round looming on 14 August and little sign of meaningful reinforcement, concern among supporters is well placed.

It’s not that Celtic can’t sell players — recent outgoings suggest the club remains competent in extracting value from its assets. The problem lies in what comes next. Whether hamstrung by internal financial parameters or lacking the recruitment expertise to land proven, European-ready talent, the club seems adrift when it comes to buying. But it wasn’t always like this.

Not long ago, under Ange Postecoglou, Celtic’s transfer business was decisive, modern, and well-connected. The squad was rebuilt at pace with signings who not only made immediate impact but also delivered long-term value. So what changed? Why has the club, which once executed one of the most effective rebuilds in its modern history, now reverted to reactive, often underwhelming recruitment?

Ange Postecoglou lifts the Scottish Cup after the victory during the Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden P on June 03, 2023 (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

To understand Celtic’s current inertia, we need to revisit what made that transformational period under Postecoglou work — and more importantly, why the relationships and structures that powered it were abandoned so abruptly.

Celtic’s transformation under Ange Postecoglou will go down as one of the most effective rebuilds in the club’s modern history — not just for the trophies it brought, but for the sharp, forward-thinking recruitment strategy that powered it. But as we sit here now, with that momentum having long since faded, one uncomfortable question lingers – why did Celtic so abruptly abandon the very relationships and structures that delivered that success?

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The answers may lie not just on the pitch, but in the departures of two key figures – Dom McKay and Ange Postecoglou.

Ange Postecoglou and Dominic McKay Unveiling – Celtic Park Celtic new manager Ange Postecoglou poses for a photo at Celtic Park Glasgow. Picture date: Friday June 25, 2021. Photo: Jeff Holmes

Central to all of this is the club’s now seemingly dormant relationship with super-agent Frank Trimboli and his agency CAA Base — a partnership that helped transform Celtic’s fortunes in just 18 months.

Though Dom McKay lasted just a few months as CEO in 2021, his fingerprints are all over Celtic’s most successful transfer period in a generation. He was the man who presented the bold appointment of Ange Postecoglou. Helped build a modern recruitment framework and green-lit moves into new markets — especially Japan — through trusted agent networks like CAA Base.

Kyogo Furuhashi celebrates with Carl Starfelt. Photo Steve Welsh

While he officially stepped down in September 2021, most of the business that defined Ange’s first season had already been lined up under his watch. That includes not only the summer signings (Kyogo, Jota, Abada, Starfelt, Juranović and Hart), but also the deals for Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, and Yosuke Ideguchi, which were finalised well before the January window opened.

Dominic McKay in the director’s box at Celtic Park. PhotoJeff Holmes 61642121

McKay didn’t just modernise Celtic’s approach — he brought urgency and alignment to a club that had lost its way after the collapse of the 10-in-a-row season.

A huge part of Postecoglou’s success came from trusting people he knew, and that meant working closely with Frank Trimboli, one of football’s most influential agents. Through his CAA Base network, Celtic were introduced to a raft of players who were talented, undervalued, and hungry.

This model seemingly worked perfectly. Celtic identified targets early. Players trusted the development pathway. The club won trophies, and players secured big-money moves. It was win-win-win. Celtic got quality and profit; players got exposure and career advancement; agents got movement and resale potential.

Celtic v Greenock Morton – Scottish Cup – Fourth Round – Celtic Park Celtic s Aaron Mooy celebrates scoring their side s fifth goal of the game during the Scottish Cup fourth round match at Celtic Park, Glasgow. Saturday January 21, 2023. Photo Jane Barlow

Celtic’s second season under Ange was still successful — a domestic treble and Champions League exposure — but recruitment was less clinical. Alistair Johnston and Aaron Mooy were hits, but other signings struggled for impact or minutes. Some of that may have been natural regression. After all, replicating the quality of that first double-window overhaul was always going to be difficult.

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Ange Postecoglou and Dom McKay. Photo: Jeff Holmes

But another part may have been the absence of Dom McKay and a loss of strategic focus. The club still had Ange, but not the same structure behind him. And that’s a key detail — McKay’s early departure may have created a vacuum in leadership and recruitment alignment that never quite healed.

There’s a school of thought that may or may not be accurate that Ange’s departure to Spurs bruised egos at boardroom level — perhaps even that of major shareholder Dermot Desmond. After all, Celtic had handed Postecoglou a European platform that even he may have believed would never come his way. His decision to jump to the Premier League after just two seasons, at the peak of success, may have felt like disloyalty to those at the top.

Peter Lawwell, Chairman of Celtic, Dermot Desmond, Non-Executive Director of Celtic, and Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic, are seen in attendance prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

If that’s true, it may explain the club’s sudden break from everything Ange was associated with. No further signings from Japan. No ongoing relationship with CAA Base. No visible attempt to maintain the smart, connected model that had brought such instant success.

Instead, Celtic reverted to type. Insular recruitment, unclear planning, and a sharp dip in the quality and value of signings.

Paul Tisdale manager of Milton Keynes Dons during the Sky Bet League One match between Milton Keynes Dons and AFC Wimbledon at Stadium mk on September 07, 2019 (Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)

But with the appointment of Paul Tisdale to replace Mark Lawwell and the signings of Japanese prospects Hayato Inamura and Shin Yamada this summer there are tentative signs that Celtic may be inching back toward some of the principles that once brought them success.

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These moves could signal a long-overdue return to undervalued markets like Japan. However, it’s important to ask whether this is a true strategic revival — or just a token gesture.

Daizen Maeda and teammate Reo Hatate are pictured with the Scottish Premiership trophy after the season’s final match against St. Mirren, on May 17, 2025. Photo IMAGO (The Celtic Star)

The players signed are younger or far less proven than the likes of Kyogo or Hatate, or Maeda were upon arrival, and there’s no clear indication that the club has re-engaged with trusted networks like CAA Base. If anything, these appear, currently at least, to be isolated efforts rather than a systemic shift.

Tisdale’s influence might offer more substance. Known for his modern thinking and development-focused background, he presents a contrast to Lawwell’s often narrower approach. If he’s given the space and influence to reshape scouting infrastructure — especially beyond the UK — Celtic might finally start rebuilding what they’ve lost. But again, without communication, transparency or broader alignment from the boardroom down, it’s difficult to say whether this is a strategic pivot or another short-lived course correction.

Because what made the original model work wasn’t just the market, it was the method. Strategic leadership. Global contacts. Trust-based relationships. Those haven’t yet, it seems, been reassembled.

Celtic had something rare. A working football model that balanced ambition with sustainability. In just 18 months, the club won five domestic trophies. Rebuilt its squad. Made in the region of £90 million in player sales. Unearthed players like Kyogo, Jota, Hatate, O’Riley, and Carter-Vickers — who all either delivered on the pitch or in the market or both.

And it all stemmed from three things. Dom McKay’s strategic vision. Ange Postecoglou’s leadership and network. A collaborative relationship with Frank Trimboli and CAA Base.

If Celtic want to regain that edge — to recruit smarter, compete better in Europe, and extract more value from their playing assets — then it’s time to ask serious questions. Not just about scouting departments and analytics, but about why those key relationships were severed, and whether pride got in the way of progress.

Because the truth is, we had the formula. We just chose to stop using it.

In hindsight, Dom McKay’s abrupt and “mutually agreed” departure after only a few weeks as CEO feels less like a personnel reshuffle and more like a pivotal fork in the road for Celtic. His vision — one of modernisation, transparency, and aligning Celtic with progressive football clubs across Europe — now stands in sharp contrast to the more opaque and conservative regime that followed.

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Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Celtic, looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League match between Celtic FC and Club Brugge KV at Celtic Park on November 27, 2024 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Michael Nicholson’s internal appointment to the role, despite lacking football-specific executive experience, raises uncomfortable questions. Why was a man already in the room during McKay’s appointment suddenly seen as the more suitable long-term figure? Was it simply about leadership style — or a deeper resistance to the kind of change McKay was pushing for?

Under McKay, Celtic looked outward. There was structure, direction, and a sense that recruitment was being driven by networks, relationships, and a clear plan. Since his exit, Celtic have appointed two different heads of football operations, but neither has recreated the synergy or success of that brief, transformative period.

The club now sits on financial reserves that approach an entire year’s turnover — yet meaningful squad strengthening has stalled. The agility, ambition, and alignment of Ange’s early windows has given way to a frustrating lack of clarity.

Peter Lawwell, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Nicholson. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

So, as fans look to Paul Tisdale with cautious hope, the real issue may not lie solely in the recruitment team at all. The question is whether Celtic’s executive leadership — so adept at selling players — is even interested in replicating the bold, connected approach that once made their buying so successful. Because until the club rediscovers that willingness to modernise, align, and communicate a clear footballing vision, the gap between what Celtic could be and what they currently are will only grow.

Niall J

Today we remember David Potter, who passed away two years ago today. We want to say thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered David’s last ever Celtic book, Celtic in the Eighties, which will be published on the fifth day of September by Celtic Star Books.

Celtic legend Danny McGrain has written a wonderful foreword for the book and we will have a limited number of copies available that will be signed by Danny McGrain – if you have already pre-ordered your copy of Celtic in the Eighties you will be getting a signed copy. If you would like to receive a signed copy by Danny McGrain please order now as the number of signed books will be limited.

David’s widow Rosemary has also written a ‘thank you message’ to the Celtic support for David’s last book. It’s a wonderful tribute to David from his wife on behalf of his entire family that extends right out to his Celtic family. That’s you, me and everyone else reading this or anyone who has Celtic in their hearts.

The link to pre-order your copy of Celtic in the Eighties, signed by the legendary Celtic captain Danny McGrain is below. Celtic in the Eighties is a fitting way for David Potter to sign off as one of Celtic’s foremost historians. We think you’ll love it.

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.

Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image to join.