Celtic has completed a flurry of transfer activity in the days leading up to the European signing deadline, bringing in Joel van den Berg, Oliver Sorensen, and Sam Johnstone, with Shim Mheuka, Gvidas Gineitis, and Landon Emenalo also expected to join.

This late surge in business follows a significant £30 million investment in four players earlier in the transfer window. However, the timing has drawn criticism, with questions arising about why these deals were not finalized weeks earlier, particularly before the club's Champions League qualifier against LASK, which saw them surrender a substantial aggregate lead.

Assistant manager Shaun Maloney acknowledged the frustration among supporters regarding the pace of transfer dealings. "You can understand that," Maloney stated. "From a coach's point of view, you want them as early as possible. You have to adapt to how the window plays out. We'd love them as soon as possible, but from a coaching point of view it's about being as positive as possible, helping them integrate as soon as we can and improving the team's performance."

Maloney also commented on the ideal scenario, noting, "In an absolute ideal world, you're probably in this position (only) reacting to injuries. We couldn't plan for Alistair (Johnston) or any of the ones that have got injuries in the last week or so, but they're actually not that long term. I think the other stuff, in an ideal world, you've got all your work done at certain points within the window. But I think that's also the reality that we live in."

Reflecting on past transfer windows, Maloney pointed to the January window as particularly challenging. "January was really difficult," he recalled. "The club was preparing for a completely different way of playing. Different structure, team, different profile of players. When was it? January 5, within the first week, we changed. Very quickly, we had to change complete direction on the type of player we wanted to bring in. That was tough. That was really difficult."

He explained that from February onwards, his role extended to assisting the recruitment department in anticipating player movements and needs for the current window. "There was a lot of work to try and do that. Almost since the end of May, the structure of the club has been that it's Martin on the board. For me, I've literally just focused on coaching the team. Any time Martin or any of the board guys ask an opinion or need me to watch anything, any player that they bring, no problem. I think all the staff are more than willing to do that work."

The January window saw some signings, such as Joel Mvuku, Tomas Cvancara, and Junior Adamu, make minimal impact. However, Julian Araujo, on loan from Bournemouth, and free agent Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who impressed until fitness issues arose, were considered more successful.

Maloney expressed optimism about Oxlade-Chamberlain's current condition, stating, "He's done more training with us, more than any other player really. A lot of the extra work. You're starting to look at the condition that he's in. He can go and perform. I hope he has a really big season for us. He has been an unbelievable player."

The recent 5-4 aggregate defeat to LASK was a significant blow, and Maloney admitted the initial days following the loss were difficult. "It wasn't just the players, everyone associated with the club felt that disappointment. In the Falkirk game there was a lot of good, but we also allowed Falkirk more of the ball in certain areas than we would have liked. That's where we have to demand more."

Despite the challenges and fan concerns, the club has secured a win against Falkirk, providing some respite. "We had to win that game and the last couple of days have been easier to focus on what we need to do on the back of a win. We have to keep improving. We have got really good players - and we have to demand more from them," Maloney concluded.