AMID questions about the Green Brigade fallout, complaints about (alleged) Rangers supporting refs and gripes about the remuneration of certain board members, there was in fact a good deal of chat at the Celtic AGM about the football team itself.
Most of the concerns from the floor in that regard centred around the club's transfer policy, and the composition of the playing squad. More specifically, how unfit the group that had been bequeathed to manager Brendan Rodgers were to compete at Champions League level.
Predictably, such accusations were refuted by the board, as was the notion that Rodgers has had signings thrust upon him. Despite his own complaints about the quantity of players versus their quality, notably, this theory was rubbished afterwards by Rodgers himself.
“Listen, it’s something that’s natural," Rodgers said.
“People will always wonder, especially when we’re a club that doesn’t have a Director of Football or Sporting Director.
“But it’s really no different here to most clubs. We identify the profile of the players that we want. The recruitment team then scythe that down to a certain number.
“Then it comes forward to me to decide on the best ones to bring in. And if none of the three are to the level then we don’t bring them, it’s as simple as that.
“It’s pretty clear. And that was one of the things before I came, and then when I came in, I needed clarity around that.
“The club’s strategy is to bring in young players and we have done that during the last window. The likes of Yang (Hyun-jun) and (Odin) Thiago (Holm) will show up very well in the future.
“But I have also said, strategically, that we need quality. And that’s something, hopefully, over the coming years we can improve on.”
That is also a need in the shorter to medium term too, though, with Rodgers hoping to land some players in the coming winter window who can immediately influence not only their push for the Premiership title, but who can bed in for a running start at next season's Champions League.
“The notion now is to make sure we bring in better," he said.
“You can get good players in January. But it’s availability and affordability.
“But there is no doubt that if we’re to enhance the squad in January then we’ll need to bring in someone who is going to improve us.”
In Rodgers' previous stint at Celtic, he made no secret of the difficulties he had at times in accepting some of the limitations of the club's station when it came to attracting signing targets. Or, rather, when he felt the board wasn't pushing the boat out enough in the transfer market to support his goals.
Things seem to have changed this time around. Not only is he more accepting and more in sync with the overall strategy of the club, but he has learnt to more readily trust and accept the advice of his recruitment team, led by Mark Lawwell.
There was, incidentally, some mirth had at the AGM when one shareholder asked what could possibly have given the former Celtic chief executive and current non-executive director's son the edge to land such an appointment.
But accusations of nepotism were nipped in the bud by chief executive Michael Nicholson, who said Lawwell was appointed on the recommendation - nay, demand - of former manager Ange Postecoglou, who had worked alongside him for four years as part of the City Group.
Rodgers rates him too, and trusts him to present a list of players who fit his January requirements. While he will always have the final say, the days of managers compiling their own list of targets and demands, it seems, are long gone.
"That’s very, very difficult," Rodgers said.
“Because my job is to manage and to coach.
“With the greatest respect, the modern-day manager does not have the time to be going around and sitting in stadiums looking at loads of games. That’s not the job. So that’s why you’re reliant on the recruitment team.
“Yes, of course there are certain players who you know and can bring in. But, in the main, the targets will come from the football club - and then I will choose.
“And it’s only right that I do. I know I’m stood on the sideline but I take the responsibility for the players and the team when it’s out there. So, it’s only right that I have the final say on the players coming in.
“There were some who were nearly over the line when I was due to come in. So, I trust the process.
“Some of the guys we brought in, I can absolutely see why they were coming in. But going forward it has to also be about quality.
“And that’s something we’re all aligned with. So, it’s all very clear.”
