Are Celtic facing a crossroads already this season?

Brendan Rodgers says the transfer window left him feeling empty

For a club who have enjoyed domestic dominance in recent times and whose traditional title rivals have yet to win a league game and sit 10th in the table, Celtic fans should be relatively content with their lot.

However, sections of the Parkhead support are anything but.

A dismal transfer window despite money in the bank, no Champions League football, and now manager Brendan Rodgers calling for a "cowardly" club insider to leave.

As Celtic get ready to go to Kilmarnock on Sunday in a match which will feature an away fan protest, how has the champions' season hit what feels a pivotal crossroads already?

Celtic statement leaves fans wanting answers

A decline can be traced back to the high point of the performance arc under Rodgers, away to Bayern Munich on 18 February.

The team were seconds away from a first win on German soil and on the brink of extra time in the Allianz Arena. Despite Alphonso Davies' last-gasp, heart-breaking equaliser, it was clear Celtic had delivered on a pre-season promise of progress and respectability in the Champions League.

Fast-forward six months to the calamity of Kairat Almaty and failure to qualify for Europe's premier competition.

A weak summer of recruitment was lambasted by fans and pundits but defended by the board in a statement last Saturday which said "we can never compromise the financial integrity of the club" and "it is important to remain disciplined in our approach".

But Kieran Maguire, author of The Price of Football told BBC Scotland: "Celtic's statement does seem a little bit disingenuous. Uefa rules allow clubs to spend 70% of their revenues on player wages. Celtic currently spend around 53%.

"Uefa rules also allow you to take into consideration player sale profits and add those to revenue, so Celtic have an awful lot of headroom should they chose to spend more in terms of player recruitment and retention.

"I'm a little bit confused as to the nature and the timing of the statement. It does appear to be very inconsistent with a detailed analysis of the figures."

Celtic emerged from the transfer window with a net profit on player trading. They could have trebled the approximate £10m shelled out for late arrivals Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha and stayed within the Uefa parameters.

'Sack the board' no longer empty slogan

Chants of "sack the board" have reverberated around Celtic Park at various points this season, with many fans of the opinion that Rodgers has not been adequately backed.

According to the last published set of accounts, the club had £65m in the bank. Not to mention the £15m secured by the sale of Nicolas Kuhn to Como.

A meeting with chief executive Michael Nicholson and certain supporter groups was supposed to douse the flames of discontent. Celtic's statement thereafter added a rather large dose of rocket fuel to the fire.

"The backdrop to the current anger and frustration felt by Celtic fans is an ongoing failure over a prolonged period of time both in the Champions League and in the transfer market," said Paul-John Dykes from the A Celtic State Of Mind podcast.

"Seven months ago, Brendan Rodgers spoke about having an unswerving plan to make Celtic a seasoned club at Champions League level. The board failed to replace the quality that has since left.

"We are united as a fan movement with the aim of influencing positive change at boardroom level. One of our objectives is to call for the removal of Michael Nicholson, Chris McKay and Peter Lawwell."

A fan banner at Celtic Park

With the clock ticking down on deadline day, Celtic ended up paying over £5m for Tounekti.

Adam Idah was sold despite clear assurances that the striker would be going nowhere until a suitable replacement was secured. Instead, free agent Kelechi Iheanacho was signed up after the window closed.

Asked prior to the long trip to Almaty what would get his players back to their usual levels "competition," came the quickfire reply from Rodgers.

Not coaching, not cajoling, not training. Competition.

The manager has been asking for it since the turn of the year. The sale of Kyogo Furuhashi with no thought for a replacement is still a puzzler eight months on.

Some £30m had been spent on Idah, Arne Engels, Auston Trusty and Paulo Bernardo in the previous summer.

This time round, Rodgers wanted quality, not quantity. What he got was the return of Kieran Tierney and a decent looking forward in Benjamin Nygren along with several "club signings" that he has largely overlooked.

Tounekti, Iheanacho, Balikwisha and Marcelo Saracchi may yet prove to be worthwhile additions but arrived once the Champions League horse had bolted.

You then have regular performer Daizen Maeda looking a shadow of himself after a summer move was blocked.

Rodgers' presser pressure point

The latest twist in this Celtic tale came on Friday.

While being quizzed on the transfer window - which Rodgers said left him feeling "empty" - he was also questioned on a recent media report which cited an unnamed club insider claiming the Celtic boss was trying to engineer an exit.

Rodgers, whose contract runs until next summer, was blunt in his response.

"My honest take is I thought it was a cowardly action by whoever it is," he said.

"It's not something you'd want. Certainly my relationships with the guys, I am close with here within the board, I would struggle to understand why.

"All I've tried to do is drive the club forward. Was I surprised by it? Not really."

When asked if the person who was speaking against him should resign, he added: "I don't think there's any doubt."

Then came the questions about his future. On whether he'd want to stay beyond the end of the season, with the answer coming back as "100%".

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. Next summer seems a long way away in the here and now for Celtic.

Against the backdrop of a fan protest, a routine Premiership encounter with Kilmarnock has taken on another new dimension.

How Rodgers, his team and club navigate the coming days and weeks will be intriguing stuff.