The Hoops legend had his say on the Scottish Premiership’s possible plans for next season.
Celtic legend Charlie Nicholas has stressed that the Bhoys need to spend money this summer in order to improve and stated that, should they keep Neil Lennon as manager beyond the summer, that they cannot expect him to unearth another budget gem like Virgil van Dijk.
The Hoops, currently under the stewardship of Lennon as interim boss, are 11 points clear of second-placed Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership table with just five games to go.
Therefore, barring a collapse in form combined with Gers winning all their remaining games, Parkhead is all but set to celebrate title number eight in a row, not to mention the prospect of a treble Treble on the horizon.
However, Celtic have not quite been the unstoppable force that they had been in recent years – indeed, the winter break table saw the top four teams separated by just three points (The Guardian), which suggests the gap between the Hoops and the likes of Rangers are narrowing.
Nicholas, who had two spells in the green and white hoops, thinks that whoever gets the job will have a massive task on their hands, hence his suggestion to the board of looking further afield, and if the hierarchy had planned to go about it on a budget, he explained why this will most likely not be happening.
“Celtic must spend money this summer in order to improve,” he is quoted by the Scottish Sun as saying.
“But will the board give Lenny the cash to do this or expect him to carry on in the hope he can unearth another Virgil van Dijk, Victor Wanyama or Gary Hooper? It worked once, but that was almost a decade ago and things have changed in the market place.”
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