O’Neill Relieved with Celtic’s Late Signings as McInnes Finds Strength in Rangers Dressing Room
The transfer window finally slammed shut in Scotland with two very different emotions on either side of the Old Firm divide: quiet satisfaction at Celtic, and sheer exhaustion at Rangers.
O’Neill happy with late Celtic rush
Six of Celtic’s 10 summer signings walked through the door in the final 48 hours of the window, a late burst that left Martin O’Neill relieved rather than rattled.
Dutch midfielder Joel van den Berg arrived from PSV Eindhoven and Swiss right-back Jordan Lotomba came in from Feyenoord just before Wednesday night’s UEFA registration deadline. Before that late flurry, Celtic had already secured loan deals for Wolves goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, Parma midfielder Oliver Sorensen and Chelsea teenagers Shim Mheuka and Landon Emenalo.
There was a catch. UEFA squad rules meant the Chelsea pair and Van den Berg were all left out of the Europa League list.
“I’m delighted to get players. Genuinely pleased,” O’Neill said, before acknowledging the brutal reality of European registration. “Some young lads will be disappointed not being able to make that particular UEFA squad. So there’s only so many places that we could fill.
“If we can avoid serious injury to the players here, people not being out for endless lengths of time, then I’m happy with it.”
Celtic’s rivals had done most of their business well before the final week. The champions, knocked out of the Champions League and short in obvious areas, were still scrambling for cover at left-back with Kieran Tierney injured and other gaps to plug.
The timing question came again. O’Neill bristled.
“How many times are you going to ask me that each week? We started this in July time. So I’m pleased with the players that we’ve got in.
“We’ve got them in and I genuinely want to get on with it now. So, ideally, it would be great to have got players in earlier to get them bedded in. It doesn’t matter. Happy, really happy to have the players that we have.”
One name they did not land was Torino midfielder Gvidas Gineitis. O’Neill shrugged off any sense of frustration.
“No, I’m really pleased with what we have now at this minute. So, honestly, not a problem.”
Lotomba has only signed until the end of the season, joining four loan players in a squad that suddenly looks deeper but also more temporary. O’Neill did not hide his mixed feelings on that model.
“I sometimes concern myself about loan players coming in and maybe not seeing the club that they’re going to as the club that they really want to play for,” said the 74-year-old, who will again be without Tierney and Kasper Hogh against St Mirren on Saturday.
“But I’ve also had loans of players who have loved the football club. For instance, Julian Araujo took the club to heart last season and that was great. Honestly, he would have done anything for the club. So, from that viewpoint, you’re never sure.
“Loans are sometimes a bit of a concern, but it depends on the player.”
Celtic now move into the domestic grind and Europa League campaign with bodies in the building, gaps patched and a manager determined to draw a line under the chaos of the window. The deals are done. The excuses, as O’Neill made clear, are gone.
McInnes: ‘It feels like I’ve been to war’
Across the city, Derek McInnes greeted the end of trading with something closer to a weary exhale.
Rangers added two more faces on deadline day to take their tally to 14 summer recruits. Portland Timbers striker Kevin Kelsy, a 22-year-old Venezuelan, joined on an initial four-year deal with an option of a fifth in a move reportedly worth around £9.5m. Algeria winger Badredine Bouanani arrived on a season-long loan from Stuttgart. Both are in the squad for Saturday’s Premiership meeting with Motherwell.
“We all took a huge sigh of relief when the window closed yesterday and we get on with the job in hand,” McInnes said.
“It feels like I’ve been to war this window, to be honest. It feels like the longest window I’ve ever known. There’s always so much to consider.”
The numbers tell one story. McInnes’ description of his dressing room tells another.
“At Rangers, I don’t want to work with players who just see what’s next and what’s next after this, always maybe eagerly eyeing up other opportunities.
“I want people who want to be here, who want to hang about the club for a period of time and want to be successful here.
“This club can provide so much opportunity and so many good moments for a player, manager and the like.
“I just want us to commit to being here and put all our focus on the club. The club is deserving of that. The players are deserving of each other, to get that tightness and closeness.”
The tone shifted as he spoke about the atmosphere around the squad in recent weeks. This was the part that clearly mattered to him.
“I need to say the dressing room, particularly over the last couple of weeks, has been so strong and so together.
“It actually feels like a football dressing room. The humour, the togetherness and how we work has felt far more like what I would expect my dressing rooms to look like and behave like.
“That’s important when you come through adversity and stinging results. Equally, we’ve bounced back really well in two tough away games (wins at Falkirk and Aberdeen).
“That spirit and togetherness helps you get through difficult times, and you need that at any club, but particularly here.”
Rangers are young, raw and, in McInnes’ eyes, full of upside. That also brings risk.
“We are a very young dressing room. That is exciting and there is a lot of potential, but there are also lots of learnings for these young boys.
“It’s our job to help them fulfil that potential in a Rangers shirt, day in and day out.
“I just want the players not to waste their minutes or opportunities.
“Whether they’re picked or training, don’t see any day as a lazy day. We’re not going to accept bad practice here.
“Every day has to be important. You train with motivation, professionally, and as if you’re trying to get into the team on a Saturday.”
Left-back Tuur Rommens, out with a groin strain, will resume full training between the two upcoming clashes with Celtic, adding another piece to McInnes’ evolving jigsaw.
So the window closes with O’Neill content that his squad is finally stocked and McInnes convinced he has the type of dressing room he wants. The signings are one thing. The question now is which of these rebuilt squads will stand up when the real pressure of a Scottish title race begins to bite.
