Celtic have invested £30m in new players this summer, but their patchy record in Champions League qualifiers suggests they could still fall flat when they face LASK again. The Austrian side are a different proposition to the team Celtic beat 12 years ago, and the club's history in these ties is littered with disappointment.
A familiar tale of transfer frustration
The last time Celtic met LASK, in 2014, the skies opened with a biblical downpour as a group of Scottish journalists huddled outside the old Linzer Stadion, soaked while watching Germany thrash Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semi-final. That night, Celtic were in the early days of Ronny Deila's reign, and it poured for the Norwegian as well.
Before the rain, Deila was dealing with Scott Brown and James Forrest facing three months out, Virgil van Dijk and Fraser Forster spending more time on the phone to agents than on the pitch, and new players trickling in rather than flooding. Teemu Pukki scored a hat-trick in a 5-2 win against LASK but was soon gone, as were several others. Aleksandar Tonev arrived late, Jo Inge Berget and Wakaso Mubarak came on loan, and Celtic accidentally ended up with John Guidetti and Stefan Scepovic in a deadline-day scramble.
Lessons not learned
Weeks later, Deila's side were thrashed 6-1 by Legia Warsaw and then eliminated by Maribor in the Champions League play-off, with the club vowing to learn lessons. That phrase has been familiar over the years, repeated by Peter Lawwell and more recently by Michael Nicholson and Brian Wilson.
But this time, have Celtic actually learned? It looks like the penny might be dropping. Signing a dozen hopefuls for £2m and hoping one or two turn out to be stars has worked at times, but when it hasn't, it's ended in familiar failure. In nine attempts at these qualifiers, Celtic have bellyflopped seven times. They can't allow it to become eight against LASK.
Bigger spending, but gaps remain
Celtic have heeded last season's shambles and gone relatively big, throwing £30m at Kasper Hogh, Camilo Duran, Haissem Hassan and Mika Baur. That's serious, but not reckless, with Daizen Maeda money in and more when the £22m Arne Engels cheque drops.
More is required though. Martin O'Neill should not have been talking about an Engels replacement on Friday; the new man should be in the door. Likewise with Alistair Johnston, whose injury has ruled him out of next week and scuppered his move to Everton. The goalkeeper, left-back and left-wing issues remain, and Hassan and Baur could have done with another fortnight to settle.
Celtic are in far better shape than a month ago and have financial wriggle room to spend another chunk without losing sleep. This summer has shown they can shift up a gear, but they still need to learn it's better to buy a brolly beforehand, because the rain is never far away.
