Celtic Board Backs January Spending: Should Defence Come First?

Celtic Board Backs January Spending: Should Defence Come First? Celtic sit top of the Scottish Premiership with 28 points from 12 games, yet the table flatters a side that has won only three of their last 10 matches in all competitions. Martin O’Neill’s team lost 2-0 at Falkirk on November 1. The damage began in Europe. A heavy aggregate defeat to LASK ended Champions League hopes and sent the club into the Europa League league phase, where they have lost to Ferencváros (1-3), Benfica (1-4) and Celta Vigo (1-2) and sit 35th out of 36. Rangers then knocked them out of the League Cup quarter-finals with a 3-0 win in September. Critics have called the defending shambolic and O’Neill’s selection process a lottery, and a crucial clash with Beşiktaş looms. The numbers explain the anxiety. Celtic have conceded 17 goals across nine fixtures and kept one clean sheet in their last seven games. Cameron Carter-Vickers, usually a reliable pillar, has made errors that cost games, and the back line has looked disorganised. Goalkeeping has become another sore point. O’Neill has rotated between Viljami Sinisalo and Sam Johnstone, and neither has anchored the defence or built consistency. In midfield, Callum McGregor has lacked cover, and Benfica exploited the gaps with fast counter-attacks. Board promises January backing The Glasgow Times reports that Celtic’s hierarchy are eager for January to arrive. At a Q&A with 120 fans at the Greenock Celtic Supporters’ Club, president Joe Clark and chief executive Michael Nicholson admitted the squad needs strengthening and confirmed a dedicated January budget. Clark told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard that Nicholson wanted January to come quickly. Clark said a four-man scouting panel passes suitable players to O’Neill, who makes the final decision. Clark asked how the two summer centre forwards were chosen and heard it came down to availability. O’Neill questioned whether the board’s aims of dominating the league and succeeding in the Champions League are realistic. He is on a one-year contract with an option. Should Celtic make defence their January priority? GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – OCTOBER 22: Martin O’Neill, Manager of Celtic, looks on before the UEFA Europa League 2026/27 League Phase MD3 match between Celtic FC and Real Club Celta at Celtic Park on October 22, 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) Yes, and the order is very important. A commanding centre-back comes first, because that is where errors have decided games, and Carter-Vickers and Scales need a partner or a rival who organises the line. The goalkeeper ranks second. The club want to move on their 33-year-old keeper and end the Sinisalo and Johnstone rotation, but a top-tier replacement only helps if the defence in front steadies. A holding midfielder offers the best value, since a screen ahead of the back four protects every defender and relieves McGregor. A panel feeding O’Neill, who holds a one-year deal and doubts the board’s targets, invites short-term buys without a succession plan, and the summer’s recruitment brought two centre forwards while the defence was the bigger problem. Until the back four stops leaking goals, the league lead stays fragile.