Aiden McGeady questions ‘who answers to’ Celtic transfer failings

Aiden McGeady has called for individuals to take responsibility for Celtic’s latest questionable recruitment drive as he outlined his concern at his old club’s ongoing reliance on veteran pair Callum McGregor and James Forrest.

The Hoops’ signing policy has come under increased scrutiny over the past 18 months, with the squad generally deemed to be deteriorating with each passing window.

Former winger McGeady is particularly irked by the club’s general vagueness over who has been calling the shots on recruitment since the departure of head of football operations Paul Tisdale at the start of January.

Assistant boss Shaun Maloney previously downplayed the notion that he was leading on transfers, and stressed that it was a collaborative approach.

“The thing for me is that because there’s no head of recruitment as such, there’s nobody really to answer to it,” McGeady said on the Open Goal podcast.

“So it’s almost like a collective, you’re stronger as a collective so that no one can really say that ‘he’s to blame for signing these players’. Because if there’s a head of recruitment in charge, he’s getting the flak, isn’t he?

“I don’t know why they don’t have one. There’s no director of football either. Tisdale left in January and there’s been no director of football, no head of performance.”

McGeady was at Celtic Park on Sunday as Martin O’Neill’s side suffered a third straight defeat, going down 1-0 to city rivals Rangers in the William Hill Premiership.

The former Republic of Ireland winger was alarmed at the lack of pace and creativity in the Celtic team and believes their issues are highlighted by the fact 33-year-old captain McGregor and 35-year-old winger Forrest continue to feature so prominently.

“I was thinking coming home from the game, people are still saying James Forrest is the best winger at the club, and Callum McGregor’s still the best number six,” he mused.

“Where can you have another club where they don’t buy people to actually compete with them and replace them? Competition breeds winners, it breeds success.

“Celtic have signed a lot of wingers, but then who answers to that for signing all these wingers that aren’t as good as James Forrest, who’s 35? And they’ll just do it again in January.”

Celtic played midweek matches in each of the last five weeks leading into the current international break but McGeady dismissed any notion their form can be attributed to a heavy fixture load.

“You’re looking for an excuse when you’re saying that,” he said. “It’s just games of football. Everybody’s done it, played Wednesday-Saturday, Thursday-Sunday. It’s no different to previous campaigns.

“For me, it looks like nerves. I just think they’re nervous. It looks like players are playing well within themselves.

“And again, I go back to (recruitment), I’m looking at that team on Sunday and going, ‘where’s the pace?’. Twelve signings and two started. Half your pace is on the bench.”