"Not the reaction the club would have been looking for when they released a lengthy statement late on Saturday saying that "throwing money" around is "not a sustainable route to success". The missive - the club's first public communique about recruitment since the window closed last Monday - was designed to quell supporter unrest. In it, Celtic insisted they take their ' views "extremely seriously", understand "the concerns and frustrations" and are "always willing to learn lessons"."
""The statement is an absolute PR disaster," former Scotland midfielder Michael Stewart said on Sportsound. "Talk about not being able to read the room... "Of course, they were under pressure and felt like they had to speak but they'd have been better just being quiet than coming out with that. "At no juncture in that statement did the Celtic board actually say, 'you know what, it's not been as good as we hoped'. "That statement could've been one word - 'sorry'.""
"Celtic have signed 12 players since the end of last season, but Sebastian Tounekti, Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Kelechi Iheanacho only arrived after the club's Champions League hopes were ended by Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty. Many fans feel players such as Kyogo Furuhashi, Adam Idah, Nicolas Kuhn have not been adequately replaced despite the significant profit generated by their sales."
Celtic defended their transfer activity by stating that "throwing money" around is not a sustainable route to success and that healthy cash reserves are not relevant to UEFA financial regulations. The club said it takes supporters' views extremely seriously, understands concerns and frustrations, and is willing to learn lessons. Twelve players have been signed since last season, but key arrivals came only after Champions League elimination, and many fans feel high-value departures were not properly replaced. Former players and pundits labelled the communication a PR disaster and suggested a clearer apology was required.
Read at www.bbc.com
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