Even though some fans will not be overly pleased at the amount of players brough in during the summer, we must be happy with the calibre of player which we have been attempting to buy.
Rivaldo, Amoroso, Basturk and Yorke were all attempted signings but for one reason or the other, the deals fell through. With these signings, O'Neill said we did not make offers.
O'Neill said, "Not every player who is linked with us and who then doesn't join the football club has necessarily turned us down. In many cases there is no interest whatsoever and in others we have never made an offer."
On the Rivaldo deal, he claimed, "The conversations hardly got past first base. The money he was asking for was simply far too great and motivation might also have been a problem. That's why it irks me a bit when I see us described as having been turned down left, right and centre. You can't be knocked back if you never make an offer."
Money was also the problem with Basturk deal, the terms he was asking for were "prohibitive" according to the Celtic boss. With Amoroso, his injury plagued career so far was off-putting, "Amoroso was another player who never once received an offer from us as I felt that, given the last year or so of his career had been blighted by injury, it would be impossible for us to do so."
Celtic have only brought in Henri Camara and Juninho over the summer, and the problem with bringing in more talent seems to be money. I am impressed at our ambitions but it is now very evident that the SPL is holding us back as a progressive club.
Let's get outta here, pronto.