Celtic

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Former Dundee United and Hearts manager Robbie Neilson says Celtic's desired transfer business likely depends on getting into the Champions League proper.

Brendan Rodgers' side drew 0-0 at Parkhead against Kazakh champions Kairat on Wednesday, meaning they must now win in Asia next week in order to reach the league stage.

Rodgers has continuously expressed his desire for additions this summer, but has been left frustrated by a lack of first-team arrivals.

"Not getting into the Champions League guaranteed is affecting the recruitment," Neilson told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Any top player they are looking at at the moment is probably waiting to see if they're guaranteed Champions League football.

"As soon as Celtic can guarantee that, I expect them to put the funds in and sign three, four, five top, top players to give them a chance to compete in the Champions League."

Fans called for the club's board to be sacked during the goalless draw with Kairat, as frustrations build over a perceived lack of ambition.

"Do you gamble or do you wait for security?" Neilson said. "It looks to me from the outside that the Celtic board are looking for that security, which then allows them to then spend the money that's coming in but also get better players.

"At the moment there'll be guys sitting there that they're probably speaking to and they're waiting and saying, 'well if you make the Champions League, I'll come to the club because one, I'll probably get more money coming in but I'll also get more exposure to then get the next move'."

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• Celtic have won their past eight meetings with Livingston in all competitions, scoring 2+ goals each time and keeping a clean sheet in five of them.

• Livingston have never won away to Celtic in 21 visits in all competitions (D3 L18). Celtic have only faced Dumbarton more times at home in their history without ever losing (26).

• Celtic have won both of their league games this season without conceding. The Hoops have won and kept a clean sheet in each of the first three games of a league campaign six times previously: 1906-07, 1970-71, 1986-87, 2001-02, 2010-11 and 2024-25.

• Livingston have won just one of their past 28 away games in the Scottish Premiership (D4 L23), failing to win any of their latest 18 (D4 L14) since a 3-2 victory at Hibernian in August 2023.

• Livingston are the joint top scorers in the opening two matches of this season's Scottish Premiership (five goals, level with Hearts), while their expected goals tally of 3.4 is the outright highest in the competition so far.

Celtic are ramping up their pursuit of Go Ahead Eagles attacking midfielder Jakob Breum, with the Dutch club seeking at least £5m for the Denmark U21 international. (Sky Sports), external

Go Ahead Eagles will hold firm on their £6m valuation of Celtic target Jakob Breum and the price tag is likely to increase if the Parkhead club reach the group stage of the Champions League. (The Herald - subscription required), external

Celtic are pursuing a deal for Royal Antwerp winger Michel-Ange Balikwisha and a fee in the region of £5m will be enough to secure the 24-year-old. (Sky Sports), external

Michel-Ange Balikwisha is a "stone's throw" from joining Celtic after Royal Antwerp signed Marwan Al-Sahafi from Al-Ittihad as a replacement. (Voetbal Primeur - in Dutch), external

Celtic are in the market for two wingers, a striker and a left-back before the 1 September deadline and may be forced into the market for a right-back depending on the severity of Alistair Johnston's hamstring injury. (Sky Sports), external

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Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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There are one or two people in the Celtic boardroom who clearly love a good game of cards. Their poker face is about to get tested to the limit, however, and there's a real chance they've overestimated their hand.

The gamble? The current Celtic squad should be good enough to negotiate one round of Champions League qualifying, from the relative security of the 'champions' path'.

When Kazakh champions Kairat Almaty came out of the hat the other week, a collective grin broke out from some of a Celtic persuasion, with the odd Borat meme thrown in for good measure.

They're not laughing now, and neither are the players at the table.

The stakes have been raised to £40m with the Uefa dealer shuffling the deck one final time. Celtic's money men could have gone 'all in' earlier in the game. Instead, they're trying to bluff their way to Europe's top table with a hand they view as good enough to win.

They might be right, but big questions remain. Why take the risk, with well over £60m sitting in the bank and a further £15m-plus in the post after the sale of Nicolas Kuhn to Como?

When star striker Kyogo Furuhashi was allowed to leave at the turn of the year, why wasn't a replacement already lined up and how on earth can the club still be searching for his successor eight months later?

Why has history been allowed to repeat itself?

Remember Santa being booed and furious fans waving their wallets at shell-shocked directors in Celtic Park's main stand? December 2023, months after a poor transfer window, followed the second coming of Brendan Rodgers. That mini-crisis was overcome and the club appeared to go from strength to strength.

The Northern Irishman delivered four trophies in two seasons, adding to clear progression in the Champions League.

Which begs another awkward question: why hasn't he been offered a new contract?

It speaks to much of the current recruitment inertia. Why on earth would the purse strings be loosened for a manager in the final few months of his tenure, whose players might not be to the taste of a potential incomer next summer?

Is that part of the overall gamble? That even a frustrated Rodgers, who might be assessing his next managerial move, can get enough of a tune out of an already expensively assembled squad to get past the champions of Kazakhstan?

Again, the powerbrokers might be right. On the one hand, you have to tip your hat at the way they've held their nerve amid pleadings from the manager and fury from some in the stands.

On the other hand, was such a high-stakes gamble really necessary when, had they gone after two or three targets with real intent to deliver, they could have made the journey to the promised land far less perilous and eminently less nerve-racking?

It all adds to the drama, of course. "Sack the board," some supporters shouted. A tad premature, given a win in Almaty next week gets Celtic back to Europe's top table.

Celtic are betting the house that their manager has an ace up his sleeve for the return leg. With £40m worth of chips on the table, their bluff is about to be called.

What do Celtic fans make of the 0-0 Champions League play-off first-leg draw with Kairat Almaty - during which chants of "sack the board" rang out from some of the home support - and the club's transfer strategy this summer?

Jack Herrall
BBC Sport Scotland

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Adam Idah paid the price for Celtic's insipid first-half showing against Kairat as the striker struggles to live up to his weighty £9m transfer fee.

Idah was hooked at half-time of the goalless home draw with the Kazakh side in the Champions League play-off that leaves Celtic's hopes of progression in the balance.

The 24-year-old forward had only 12 touches in the opening 45 minutes - none of them inside the opposition box. He won only one of his three tackles, was dispossessed once, and failed to muster a shot on goal.

His lack of attacking impetus, impact and movement led to manager Rodgers admitting a change had to be made.

"There's no rocket science in it. It's all hard work and preparation and all that leads to confidence," said Rodgers.

"I wanted a bit more activity in and around the box. Adam is a good, honest boy. He's not started how he'd like, and in games like this here I can't afford to wait."

Idah wasn't the only Celtic striker to toil on Wednesday night, lending weight to Rodgers' repeated calls for attacking reinforcements.

Daizen Maeda deputised through the middle before summer arrival Shin Yamada saw out the final 15 minutes as Celtic's attacking focal point.

Yamada managed just one touch in the Kairat box and registered no shots on goal, while Maeda, who played the full 90 minutes, had a sole attempt at goal - a golden chance late on that he sent straight at the goalkeeper - and three touches of the ball inside the area.

So the three players - Idah, Maeda, and Yamada - who spent time as Celtic's main striker combined for a total of 0.09 expected goals.

In fairness, the service to the strikers was poor on a night Celtic mustered an xG of just 0.54. Can Rodgers' side find more attacking thrust in the second leg?

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Cameron Carter-Vickers is confident Celtic can still progress to the Champions League despite needing to do what no Parkhead side has managed before - win in Kazakhstan.

After the disappointing goalless draw at Parkhead with Kairat, the USA defender points to the fact that "it's a two-legged tie for a reason" and feels Brendan Rodgers' side have enough quality and recent Champions League experience to get the result they need in Almaty on Tuesday.

"We're still confident," said the 27-year-old.

"It's a two-legged tie for a reason. We know we've got to go over there and win, and we're fairly confident we can do that. We didn't play particularly well but we still had a fair amount of control in the game.

"I think we can have that control again in the return leg, and our chances will come and hopefully we'll take them.

"We were almost in too much of a rush to do things, and sometimes in these games you've got to be patient, keep the ball and move the team from side to side. The quality in the final third and the creativity to create chances and score goals was missing.

"I think we're confident we have that within the squad, and hopefully next week we can show that.

"Even if we'd won, we would still have had to go there and perform and play well to go through, so nothing really changes in that sense."

Asked if the players are able to block out the noise from the stands, with some of the home support chanting "sack the board" amid unhappiness at the pace of recruitment, Carter-Vickers remained unfazed.

"There's always going to be [external] noise around a club like this, but I think it's something as a group that we do fairly well [blocking it out]," he added.

"It's just about us focusing on what we have and what team we want to be with the players we have here and getting on with the job. "

Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Celtic captain Callum McGregor says everyone at the club has to "stick together", but he admits to frustration at the lack of new signings as "we've known for a while we need bodies".

McGregor believes reinforcements will come as - "we trust the guys running the club to do the right thing and get us the players" - although the budget may well be dictated by whether Celtic defeat Kairat Almaty in Kazakhstan next week following a disappointing stalemate in the first leg of the Champions League play-off.

Speaking after the 0-0 draw on Wednesday night, McGregor said: "Everybody expects us to be in the Champions League, and that's because of how well we have performed.

"So, with good performances come expectation, and when you drop below that, people have the right to ask questions and we have the right to ask questions of ourselves.

"It's only us that can change it, it's only us that can put ourselves into the Champions League again. So we have a shootout, we have to go there and win. I believe that this squad is good enough to do it."

What would have made the task considerably less difficult, in the eyes of both the captain and his manager, would have been a couple of extra players in the forward positions, something Brendan Rodgers has made no secret of since pre-season.

"It's time to stick together. We have to be in unison. Everybody's accountable at the club," said McGregor.

"Towards the front end of the pitch, we're a bit light in numbers, but we have to have quality as well. When you're at this level you're trying to recruit good players and they're hard to come by.

"It's all well and good getting bodies in the door but if they don't help the team then it's pointless.

"We have to trust everyone. We trust the team on the pitch, we trust the guys running the club to do the right thing and get us the players and then hopefully we can have another positive season.

"When you look at last season, you look how strong the frontline was. That's why you get good results in the Champions League; you're performing well, you've got quality coming off the bench, the squad's strong.

"So of course, when you lose those guys, you have to then replace them with like for like quality. If you don't, then you suffer a little bit.

"We've known for a while that we need bodies. Everyone's been talking about it for the whole of pre-season. But we started the season well, and it doesn't look like anyone's distracted by what's going on. Everyone just needs to stay together."

Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady on BBC Sportsound

It was a gilt-edged opportunity late on for [Daizen] Maeda. His finishing has always slightly been on the scruffy side. You wouldn't say he's a top, top finisher, he can have three chances and score one of them.

Celtic had a huge share of possession but didn't do enough with it. When they got to the final third, too many times the final ball wasn't good enough.

Former Scotland forward James McFadden on BBC's Champions League highlights show

There will be loads loads of Celtic fans saying they could see this coming. I know it's not a defeat, but when you lose players like Kuhn, Kyogo, [injured] Jota, and you've not brought in replacements, the Celtic fans had a fear this was coming and the board were waiting to see if they were going to be in CL or not.

For me, they should always be doing their business to make sure they've got the players to get the team ready and win this game. There's a lot of work still to be done for Celtic on and off the pitch.

Former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner on BBC Sportsound

I am concerned, I thought they would win this game and take a lead to Kazakhstan. They will need to perform really, really well out there.

It was very disappointing that Celtic didn't create enough. Second half was better, first half was really poor, failing to put the defence under any real pressure.

Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin on BBC's Champions League highlights show

It was painful in many ways. It's 46 games since Celtic last failed to score at Celtic Park. They've scored against Bayern Munich, loads of very good teams. It just shows you this was a really dull night.

Celtic fans were disappointed, understandably so. There's a lack of creativity there and it showed.

Former Celtic defender Johan Mjallby on TNT Sports

Celtic didn't create enough clear-cut chances to say they should have won the game, despite having more possession. Kairat defended so well too.

Brendan Rodgers has clearly said this group, playing these two games, are good enough.

They can take confidence from some of their away games last season - not against Dortmund - and maybe Rodgers needs to be a bit more pragmatic for it.

Celtic have agreed a deal in principle with Royal Antwerp for forward Michel Ange Balikwisha and a medical is arranged - but "internal issues" at the Belgian club are holding up the deal. (Sacha Tavolieri)

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

We asked you for your thoughts on Celtic's summer transfer window and Brendan Rodgers' post-match comments after the 0-0 draw with Kairat Almaty.

Here's a taste of what you had to say...

Lorenzo: Why do people think Brendan Rodgers negotiates the fees? If this rudderless, money-hungry board had done their business sooner those the players would have cost nowhere near 20m. Celtic cannot progress while the same faces run the show with their regular managed decline.

Russell: It's clear we have the money and winning two or three domestically is not what fans want or expect - they want a team that competes in Europe. We have to shop around but look at Bodo/Glimt - 5-0 winners tonight - who don't have our resources. Back Brendan!

Kenny: Low-ball bids have resulted in gambling on the play-off. The disgust in Brendan Rodgers is the same as every fan. Signing projects hoping one out of five sells for £20m. Shocking.

Rufus: Teflon Brendan: No matter what happens, it's always someone else's fault. Either the board or the players.

Graham: The usual from Rodgers… blah blah blah.

Andy: The issue with signings is not fees, it's timing. Jota is long term out, Brendan said he wants Yang Hyun-jun out on loan, Nicolas Kuhn was sold weeks ago. The club are presumably sigNing two wingers, and yet we can't get one signed before the important games have started.

Tony: The transfer dealing aren't good enough but maybe we also need to look at Rodgers' failure to evolve in terms of team set-up. It's a team of players who go side-to-side with no one willing to break rank and try something different to create space for shots or forward pass.

Rory: That one is on Rodgers and the players. Should have beaten them with what we had.

Dave: Rodgers has the perfect excuse to leave after this season. Lack of urgency and quality about this team. The board have rolled the dice and failed, this is on them.

Ivor: Brendan working his ticket again? Fans going to hound out Lawwell again? We're just lucky Rangers haven't got their act together. Sack the board.

Michelle: Not nearly good enough. Kyogo and Kuhn are long gone and Adam Idah is not anywhere near the standard we need.

John: Lack of re-investment of the transfer revenue clearly demonstrates the lack of ambition of the club.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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A chant aimed at the Celtic board, which manager Brendan Rodgers could not ignore.

The Parkhead boss has endured an awkward summer transfer window, with some messages about the lack of signings subliminal and others quite transparent.

"There are only so many ways I can dress up that we don't have the players here," he lamented in the post-match press conference, trying to put a brave face on while answering the umpteenth question about his summer of frustration.

To add to that, there was a message to his players as his side were miles off it in the draw with their Kazakhstani opposition - ranked 255 places below them in the UEFA standings.

"If you're going to miss the bus, make sure you run," he added - a mantra that could perhaps also be applied to their policy of signings in the summer.

"With around 20 minutes left, the faces of chairman Peter Lawwell and CEO Michael Nicholson appeared on the big screens at Celtic Park.

The reaction of the crowd was not particularly friendly.

"What I do know is, over many years, 'sack the board' usually means 'sack the manager'," Rodgers joked. "It's normally the manager that goes when that starts to be sung!"

Although he said the above with a grin, the manager hasn't been shy in letting his true feelings be known on how slowly Celtic have moved this summer.

While Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren have been added to the first team, the starting XI against Kairat still looked weak - particularly at the top end of the pitch.

"We need to improve the squad," he continued. "There's been clarity around that for a long time. Supporters see that.

"It's not my decision in the end. I can prepare the team, the staff, and the players that are here who have been fantastic in pre-season.

"We are all clear on where we need to improve, and for whatever reason we haven't been able to do that. We're in this position, we have to accept that and not dwell on it, and try and come through it."

The lack of strengthening in the summer was highlighted by some of the choices in Rodgers' starting XI against Kairat.

34-year-old James Forrest has been a squad player for the last few years, capable of coming off the bench and influencing games but rarely trusted from the beginning. He was in tonight.

Up top, Adam Idah was in again. At £9m last summer, he was far from a cheap deal but he is yet to convince as Celtic's star striker, despite owning the number nine shirt.

Off the bench, the alternative options in attack were Yang Hyun-jun - who replaced a hapless Idah at half-time - and two young strikers in Johnny Kenny and Callum Osmand.

It looked like a squad that had been decimated by injuries, yet only Jota remains on the sidelines.

"Midfield is Celtic's strongest area of the park," said former winger Aiden McGeady. "It's interesting with [Benjamin] Nygren - was it an area it needed strengthened? I'm not sure.

"A lot of questions are being asked about signings and transfer policy, but judge the club at the end of the window. The club have shown they're willing to spend the money."

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers: "We're disappointed with the result and first-half performance. We didn't start with the intent and mentality we wanted to. We were quite passive.

"We weren't moving as a team as we would like. The second half was better, we started well, but couldn't find the breakthrough in the final third of the pitch.

"Of course, you want to take the advantage. I've been here before, having drawn 0-0 in a qualification game against Rosenborg, a very good team, we went there to qualify and we did, played very well and won.

"There's no doubt we can go there and win. Of course, you want to take an advantage with you, it's still very much in the balance.

"What I do know is, over many years, 'sack the board' usually 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.

"At the end of the game, we have to shuffle things about to try and make it work. But the players' endeavour in the second half was really good. But at this level, it's more than that.

"Hopefully, we can show that. The boys are a great bunch of lads, really honest. They've started the season well, defensively been strong, but tonight offensively we couldn't show those moments of quality to break through.

"We need to improve the squad. There's been clarity around that for a long time. Supporters see that. We do in football. We need to improve.

"This is a performance club. That starts on the field. You do that by getting the very best players you possibly can to allow you to perform. To play a style that excites supporters.

"Hopefully between now and the end of the season, the club will get that and that will support us.

"It's not my decision in the end. I can prepare the team, the staff, and the players that are here who have been fantastic in pre-season. We are all clear on where we need to improve, and for whatever reason we haven't been able to do that.

"We're in this position, we have to accept that and not dwell on it, and try and come through it.

"As I said to the players at half-time, 'if you're going to miss the bus - make sure you run'. Don't be walking. Whatever happens, we have to give everything and make sure we're running."

Celtic's Champions League hopes hang very much in the balance after they were held to a goalless draw in Glasgow by enterprising Kazakh side Kairat.

The £40m bounty now lies at the end of a potentially hazardous road for Brendan Rodgers' side, with the Scottish champions facing a decisive second leg on Tuesday in Almaty, over 3,500 miles and several time zones away near the Chinese border.

Celtic fans, what did you make of the game? What needs to change before the second leg next week?

Give us your thoughts here.

Read the match report here.

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Celtic captain Callum McGregor tells TNT Sports: "First half we were too slow and too passive.

"Second half we started well, on the front foot the whole half. We've still got another game, it's 0-0, we never lost.

"We have to go there next week and win.

"The connections weren't quite there to get us through the middle. It's on us to go there and qualify now.

"We know how much everyone wants it. It's our job to work [through the anxiety in the stadium] and keep playing."

Brendan Rodgers will lead his Celtic side out against Kazakh side Kairat Almaty on Wednesday in what will be his 800th competitive game in senior management.

The Northern Irishman is currently in his second spell at the club, with his first running from 2016 to 2019, before returning to Glasgow in 2023.

Rodgers has won four Scottish Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups, and four League Cup titles across his two spells at Parkhead.

He has also won 69.5% of his 279 games in charge of the club, only losing 41 times.