With 51 days left of the transfer window, Hotline callers have already made up their minds about the summer dealings of Scotland's top clubs. Celtic opened their business with the £6m signing of Colombian forward Camilo Duran last week but have been slow to add further reinforcements, while questions surround captain Callum McGregor's future.
Rangers, under manager Derek McInnes, have brought in six players, including Cammy Devlin and Lawrence Shankland from Hearts. Hearts, in turn, are relying on Jamestown Analytics to find replacements for their departed stars.
Fans React to Rivals' Transfer Strategies
David Beattie from Rothesay said: "Just when you think the Celtic hierarchy can't get any worse, lo and behold their efforts at re-signing players from last year and classing them as new signings really takes some brass neck. Worse still, Rangers show them how you actually do deals in the transfer market. Embarrassing doesn't cover this but is anyone surprised at how this owner and his board do business? You reap what you sow, Dermot Desmond."
Gary Stevenson from Newtonhill added: "So Callum McGregor tells Celtic that he will move on if the club doesn't match his ambitions. Move on to where? Is anyone on the lookout for someone who can only pass a ball backwards or sideways?"
Hearts Fans Question Analytics After Exits
Lewis Fotheringham from Mount Ellen commented: "As the mass exodus at Hearts continues following Cammy Devlin's move to Rangers, I wonder how good Jamestown Analytics will be now? At this rate, the Jambos would be better off with Tony Blair than Tony Bloom."
John Scott from Grassmoor noted: "Derek McInnes gets set for the job that means everything to him a year after he told us the Hearts job was everything to him. Lots of conjecture on who the big two are chasing. Such as Celtic looking at bringing back Kieron Bowie to the SPFL, a player they could have bought from Hibs for half the fee being presently sought by Verona."
World Cup Controversy Over VAR
Turning to the World Cup, which is down to the last four with semi-finals between France and Spain, and England and Argentina, fans have criticised the officiating. Cooper Steven from Kent said: "How many officials does it take to get an important decision right? Well, if this World Cup has taught us anything, then it’s that it doesn’t seem to matter how many you have, they can still get it wrong! VAR and officials are killing the game."
Iain Kilgallon from Dunoon agreed: "I think we are all getting the VAR argument wrong. It's blatantly been brought in by the game's authorities to the top flights across Europe not to improve refereeing decisions but to help ensure the top clubs get every helping hand to ensure they qualify for Europe's top competitions."
Positive Note from Wimbledon
Finally, Allan Morrison emailed with a positive note after watching Jannik Sinner defeat Alexander Zverev to retain his Wimbledon title. Allan said: "Let’s have a rest from my dad’s better than your dad football exchanges after one of the greatest Wimbledon gents finals - four hours of unbelievable excitement and tension from two great competitors."
