SINCE Brendan Rodgers returned to Glasgow, it would be understandable if you felt Celtic have yet to fully click into gear under a man who brought so much domestic success during his first tenure.

But this time around, amidst declarations of aspirations to rectify the club’s dismal European record, many supporters harboured the belief that this would be the ideal opportunity for the board to raid the biscuit tin and back a man who left in February 2019 due to a misalignment of ambitions. They wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, surely?

In fairness to Celtic, though, nobody from within was ever on record having indicated a willingness to deviate from the much-vaunted transfer “model” that has dominated discussions in recent months.

In fact, if you had paid attention to the manager during the pre-season tour of Japan, he shot down any suggestion that he was promised a “war chest” and reiterated the position of sticking to the model.

I won’t bore you (again) with my feelings on the summer window. Suffice to say, we are where we are, and the club is currently sitting on a bank balance of over £70m.

Their fiscal prudence is undeniable, with some deeming the approach responsible and astute, while others perceive it as overly frugal and lacking imagination.

In light of these circumstances, if the Hoops fanatic from Carnlough couldn’t get everything he wanted in the close season, he would need to work his magic as a top-level coach and improve those already on the books. And even with the Bhoys losing their first Champions League match and shockingly being dumped out of the League Cup, there are three players I’d like to highlight as having upped their game.

First off is Matt O’Riley, whose influence in the centre of the park is growing by the week.
The £1.5m paid to MK Dons last January is proving an absolute steal, and even though he’s not the quickest, his performances have been eclipsing those of the skipper, Callum McGregor, recently.

In Saturday’s 3-0 away victory at Livingston, O’Riley netted his fourth goal of the campaign, adding to the two assists that he has already contributed.

Such qualities haven’t gone unnoticed, either. Celtic knocked back a £10m bid from Leeds at the tail-end of the window and are keen to tie him down on an improved and longer-term contract.

The 22-year-old’s form is also paying dividends at international level. This week it was announced that Denmark will soon award him a place in the senior squad following his two goals in six games for the U21s.

He qualifies to represent De Rød-Hvide through his grandmother, despite growing up in England.

Then we have the bionic man: Daizen Maeda.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a player with such energy don the famous green and white jersey. His greatest attributes are clearly his speed and ability to close players down – there are few in the world who can even rival him on this.

If he could sort out his composure and technique on the ball, then he’d likely be plying his trade at a much higher level than Scotland.

However, as we saw last weekend, every now and again he pulls something special out of the hat, unleashing a 25-yard drive to seal the deal on a solid team performance that saw Joe Hart get sent off for the first time in his career. It’s clear that Rodgers is a big fan of Maeda.

After the game, he said: “When you have him in your team, you don’t really have 10 men. He puts in the work rate of two players and covers so much ground - unbelievable mentality.”

There’s a reason the Japanese forward always starts the “big” games such as away to Rangers, and will be one of the first names on the team-sheet when Lazio come to town next Wednesday in the Champions League.

And last, but certainly not least, we have the biggest surprise to emerge from the early part of the season.

Liam Scales, who was on loan at Aberdeen last year, has taken his opportunity at centre-back after injuries to Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki, Stephen Welsh and Nat Phillips (hilariously, the emergency loan deal who was brought in to cover injuries).

At the end of last season, if you had told me Scales would be in the starting XI for a trip to Ibrox and the first Champions League match, I would’ve said you’re off your rocker. In fact, I would’ve been shocked if he was still at the club.

But his performances have been assured and accomplished, and the Wicklow fella deserves to keep his place when injuries subside.

He’ll definitely line out on Saturday against Motherwell at Fir Park (kick-off 12.30pm).

Stuart Kettlewell’s men made a solid start to the season but have tasted defeat in the last two weeks. Last week at Ibrox they were very unfortunate to not come away with at least a draw, spurning a couple of great chances and being on the wrong side of questionable officiating.

The next week is going to be an intriguing one. Following up a convincing win at the Tony Macaroni with a trip to Fir Park and then hosting Lazio is a tough ask for a young and injury-depleted Celtic squad. But there are signs that Brendan is starting to mould the Bhoys into how he wants them to play.

He has said they are nowhere near “vintage” Celtic, but two positive results in the next seven days will go a long way on that mission. They’re on the right path.