Gordon Strachan will not bemoan the lack of investment in his squad if Celtic relinquish their Clydesdale Bank Premier League title to Rangers on Sunday.
The Hoops led their Old Firm rivals by eight points at the start of the year and the popular perception is a strengthening of the Parkhead squad during the January transfer window might have assured them their fourth title in succession.
He said: "We never look at it that way because I feel that we have enough good players here to collect more points than we did and I don't have a problem with that."
The champions were linked to a host of players, including Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher, but as it transpired, Willo Flood from Dundee United - for an undisclosed fee - was the only first-team recruit.
Flood has made little impact in the second half of the season in which Strachan's side frittered away their lead to go in to the final game against Hearts two points behind Rangers, who need a win against Dundee United at Tannadice to guarantee them the title.
Strachan reiterated his acceptance of the conditions in which he has worked under chief executive Peter Lawwell for the last four years and denied feeling frustrated.
He said: "I knew when I came here that the idea was to bring the age of the team down, bring the wages down and win championships and, through the hard work of the guys here, we've managed to do that.
"I think we should all take pride in what's happened since Peter took over. The club is on a strong footing.
"When Peter came in, the club had £35million of debt and there's none now. That's some going. That's just hard work."
Comment 1 - 7 of 7
Football can be a pretty unpredictable game at times, but one thing will always be certain: the league table never lies. Over the course of 38 games I firmly believe the best team is that which accrues the most points and ends the season on top of the pile. To suggest otherwise is crazy.
I agree with point 3, its more important to balance the books than look at short term gains through buying expensive players with expensive wages, Im a Rangers fan but I would far rather be in Celtics financial position than ours. It also makes for a more exciting league due to the fact the old firm no longer roll over all the other scottish teams
Pub team is probably not the correct term for any team competing in the champions league, granted, celtic should be beating teams of that calibre but lets not forget rangers were beaten by a team from lithuania which is hardly football's elite.
this so called great squad finnished 4th in the champions league last season and couldnt beat a pub side from denmark to finnish 3rd and get into the euefa cup. they continue to get horsed away in the champions league which gives me a good laugh even if they win the tin pot pub league thier still a bad lot and i cant wait to see them struggle when they play against the big boys in europe next season/ENGLISH SAM
Rick, fiscal responsibility in this day and age is essential for the future of the club. We have what we need to win the league- need to score goals not spend more money.
Strachan and Lawwel MUST STAY C`mon the Gers....
I think the attitude of the celtic management and manager reflect that as long as they
eliminate debt that is the most important goal in the immediate future.When one considers the top european clubs spending on players who can produce the goods seems more on their agenda.Celtic has gone from a feared team in europe to second raters
because of the inept management and parochial outlook.
Rick Druggan[county Kildare]
Please login to post a comment
Not already a Yahoo! user ? Sign up to get a free Yahoo! Account