Celtic's Champions League Collapse: McGregor Calls for Reinforcements
Callum McGregor did not bother dressing it up. Celtic’s captain walked out of Linz knowing a patched‑up side had staggered to the end of a Champions League collapse against LASK – and that the squad, as it stands, is not ready for what lies ahead.
The club have already thrown the bulk of £30million at this summer’s rebuild. Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur have all arrived, a statement of intent on paper. On the pitch, in the closing stages in Austria, the reality looked very different.
By the end, Martin O'Neill’s back line resembled something from a pre-season bounce game rather than the climax of a European tie. Liam Scales finished at left-back. Dane Murray and Anthony Ralston were drafted into a makeshift defence. Luke McCowan came on to plug gaps in midfield. Sebastian Tounekti was asked to carry the threat on the left flank.
The pressure of the night exposed every thin area in the squad.
McGregor, speaking to BBC Sport Scotland, backed the business done so far but did not hide from the obvious.
“I think we signed well,” he said when asked if Celtic had done enough to prepare for the tie. Then came the caveat. “Then when you look at the team that finished the game – Scalesy playing at left-back, etc – then there's still little bits we still need to move forward.”
He made sure nobody mistook that honesty for an excuse. Celtic were 4–0 up in the tie. They should never have been clinging on.
“That's not me pinning the blame on anyone else because this is a tie we go 4-0 up in, so by no means is this me saying we need a left-back. That's not the case.
“But then, every squad wants to be as strong as it possibly can be, and have cover and good players in every position so we're always pushing each other.”
That is the tension at the heart of Celtic’s summer. Significant money spent, big names through the door, yet a bench in Linz that looked light the moment injuries and fatigue bit. With eight days left before the window shuts, McGregor’s message could hardly be clearer: the work is not finished.
The captain has seen enough campaigns unravel through a lack of depth to know the warning signs. The question now is not whether Celtic need reinforcements. It is whether the board move quickly enough to match their skipper’s ambition before the window slams shut and the real season begins.
