(Credit: Getty, Imago)

Oliver Walton

Thu 21 August 2025 11:40, UK

Celtic legend Chris Sutton has warned the club their failures in the transfer market are to blame after the disappointing stalemate in the Champions League against Kairat.

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The Hoops have started the season slowly so far, but their play-off first-leg tie against un-fancied opponents from Kazakhstan on Wednesday (20 August) handed them a great chance to put down a marker on the European stage.

Brendan Rodgers‘ side struggled to do anything akin to that, however, as they drew 0-0 at Parkhead to set up a tough away leg 3,500 miles away in Almaty next week.

Celtic fans voiced their displeasure at the result and lack of transfer activity with chants of “sack the board” throughout the encounter, and they could have even come away a goal down after Kairat saw an early strike chalked off by VAR for offside.

The club have signed three players for transfer fees and a further four on either free or loan deals so far this summer, but former striker Sutton is not happy with the business so far and wants to see a lot more done to help them achieve success going forward.

Copyright: JOERANSTEIINSIEK

Celtic’s lethargic start to the new campaign has not been helped by their outgoings, with star forward Nicolas Kuhn moving to Como for £16.5million [Sky Sports] last month.

Adam Idah has been criticised by the Parkhead faithful too, following some poor recent performances, and it seems as if they need to get things in order quickly to win supporters back over, as well as capitalise on arch-rivals Rangers’ own poor start to the season.

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Celtic hero Sutton, who featured for the club between 2000 and 2006, took to social media site X on Wednesday (20 August) following their draw against Kairat, insisting that there has been a lot of bad decisions made by the club in the transfer market so far this summer and previously.

He said: “So many wrong things.

Brendan starting with a striker he doesn’t want to start.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail…”

https://x.com/chris_sutton73/status/1958270746775499073?s=46&t=busTurDhk_-RswKrlS6YdA

Football Insider verdict

For all their faults, Wednesday’s game was Celtic’s first draw of the campaign after they beat St Mirren and Aberdeen in league action and then thrashed Falkirk in the League Cup last week.

Supporters’ gripes have been with their performances rather than the scorelines, however, and Idah in particular has bore the brunt of their anger, as he is without a goal in three starts up to now and was taken off at half-time on Wednesday.

AppearancesGoalsAssists75293Idah’s Celtic career stats

Jamie Vardy is believed to have his heart set on a move to Celtic, according to a recent report, as he wants to reunite with Rodgers following their spell at Leicester together.

He would surely be a solid signing, even at 38-years-old, but even if he does not make the move to the Glasgow giants this summer, they need to bring in a new centre-forward of some sort if they wish to dominate a struggling Rangers side once again.

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