Celtic's January business leaves Neilson 'really surprised'

Former Hearts boss Robbie Neilson is "really surprised" by Celtic's lack of investment during the January transfer window.

The Parkhead club - who are in a three-way title fight with leaders Hearts and Rangers - didn't buy any players, instead bringing in five on loan.

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Striker Tomas Cvancara has contributed a goal and assist in his first two appearances and right-back Julian Araujo has looked a solid addition, while forwards Junior Adamu and Joel Mvuka, plus defender Benjamin Arthur, are still awaiting a debut after Wednesday night's game at Aberdeen was postponed.

"To be honest, I'm really, really surprised that they didn't invest more heavily in the January window," Neilson told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Once they made the decision about the manager and Martin O'Neill came in on a more permanent basis, I just thought they would go bit more heavy and bring some players in.

"So to bring in five loan players, it's a difficult window at the best of times to bring players in if you're spending money never mind if you're bringing loans in, because generally you're getting guys that maybe aren't involved in the club they're at.

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"Time will tell if they're going to come in and really influence the squad. It's an interesting window.

"I expected a lot more business from Celtic to give them a push in the league."

Former Celtic midfielder Scott Allan believes the managerial uncertainty beyond O'Neill's interim spell, which ends in the summer, meant the board were reluctant to spend.

"It was a tough one for Celtic because as much as you want them to invest in signed players for the next one to two years, we don't know who the manager's going to be next season," said Allan.

"I think that would have played a huge part. At the start of the window I thought a lot of the business would be short term and it certainly seems that way.

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"Cvancara comes in in the last couple of weeks, gets an assist against Hearts and then scores a fantastic header last weekend.

"You can't really tell about the others until we see them on the pitch, especially with the expectation, which is Celtic fans demand you perform as soon as you get in there. There's no time to settle, especially when there's so much at stake."

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