“Celtic have moved on an icon and then a captain in the space of 24 hours” – Michael Grant, The Herald, 14 July 2010.

“"It was the best decision I have taken. The team has placed its confidence in me, as has the board, the club, coaching staff and players.” - Efrain Juarez interviewed by ESTO after completing a move to Celtic.

"He's a bit of an enigma and has certainly given us food for thought after the Manchester United game and now this one.” – Neil Lennon ponders giving Georgios “Greek Tragedy” Samaras a contract extension following a reasonable showing in a meaningless cash tournament.

It’s roughly two weeks since we last had a look at the Lennon Revolution and since that time some players have arrived, eyes burning with revolutionary zeal, and a lot more have found themselves labeled as suspect elements then forced into exile with a proletarian boot to the backside. All of last season’s loan signings have departed; Robbie Keane, Diomansy Kamara, Landry N’Guemo and Edson Braafheid all failed to work out either in terms of performance, Braafheid, or due to Celtic’s inability to meet the terms of the players and/or their current clubs (all the rest). Given Celtic’s penchant for trying to get players on loan, and their subsequent failure to offer enough for a permanent move, its little wonder that clubs have become wary of tolerating this borrowing act. Robbie Keane's departure is understandable given his wage demands, however the failure of Kamara’s loan move is the most disappointing of the lot as it was expected that he would land a permanent move. Kamara had proven himself to be a rather effective player when fit and not entirely out of Celtic’s price range (we assumed), but off he is and his image will be airbrushed out of all the official photographs.

The Dead Loaners were joined in the cattle trucks rattling to the border crossing by ex-captain Stephen McManus and the rather expanded figure of supporters’ icon Artur Boruc, all following the trail set by those freed by the club; Lee Naylor, Zheng Zhi and Koki Mizuno. McManus’ decision to turn his loan deal with Middlesbrough into a permanent move wasn’t much of a surprise to anyone; being a notorious henchmen of the discredited Strachanist regime (overthrown by a popular rising in 2009) he was in danger of being disappeared had he returned to his native land. No doubt ending up in the notorious gulags of Kilmarnock or (swallows fearfully) Falkirk. “I really enjoyed my time at Middlesbrough last season, everyone's been great with me here right from the off,” said the counter-revolutionary swine. “The manager made it clear to me how much he wanted to come here and in any line of work you want to go where you are most wanted.” Well that certainly rules out Celtic, but with £1.5m on offer from the Championship club even if he had turned out have a cult of personality his move down south was a certainty.

Someone who certainly does enjoy such status is of course Artur Boruc, a larger than life character who won the hearts of the support by ticking all the right boxes in the Celtic Fan’s Favourite application form. Not only was Boruc fond of the good things in life, often in liquid form, he liked nothing better than to cavort on the terraces at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego with this fellow Legia Warszawa nutters, took great delight in winding up the lumpen followers of Rangers with presumably insincere declarations of religious devotion, and managed to screw up his marriage by jumping into bed with former Polish Idol contestant Sara Mannei. Like Frank MacAvennie before him, Boruc managed to combine this hedonistic lifestyle with no small amount of talent, saving Celtic’s bacon on more than one occasion during terror reign of Gordon Strachan. Sadly as Boruc’s spell with the club lengthened, so did his waistline, with the “Holy Goalie” markedly less effective in recent seasons.

Boruc’s transfer to Fiorentina brought the club between £1.5m and £3m depending on what publication or source is quoted, with the confusion hardly likely to be resolved any time soon thanks to Celtic’s curious routine refusal to publish the terms of individual transfers. Suffice to say that £2m is probably not too far off the mark, meaning that total income from transfers so far this summer comes in at £3.5m, with £5m being the highest figure that’s so far found its way to font, probably thanks to Glenfiddach or possibly Toilet Duck. The Herald also reports that wages saved from the Dead Loaners and Boruc will save the club an additional £2.4m annually. So far it looks as if Dermot Desmond must think he has died and gone to heaven, but the transfer process is a two way street, and with the outgoing cattle trucks fully loaded with their burden of groaning humanity, fresh cannon fodder for the revolution is urgently required. Happily Comrade Lenin (you’re fired – Ed) has not been idle, well if not him then whoever signs players for the club; as sometimes it’s open to question.

First to arrive at the club was returning old Bhoy, Charlie Mulgrew arriving on a Bosman from Aberdeen with a three year deal, the latest hopeful for the club’s problem left-back slot. "Charlie has signed and I am pretty pleased about that," said Lennon, failing to launch into hyperbole. "He was a kid who was here and went away. He went to play in England and had a great spell at Aberdeen and outside the Old Firm we felt he was one of the best players in the SPL." Yes, well that’s a rather qualified accolade given the standard of the SPL, and it’s hardly a ringing endorsement of the game to have a player hailed as one of the best who struggled at Wolverhampton and was due to end up in the English second division (the old 4th Division in the days of sensible league names) with Swindon Town before Aberdeen intervened. Still, Mulgrew has stood out in a shockingly bad Pittodrie side, so there’s a possibility he could make a valuable addition to the squad, although it’s questionable whether he could, or should be, anything more than that.

Next in the door was a man with more nicknames than male genitalia; “The Human Weapon”, Terminator”, “Autobahn” (presumably not after the Kraftwerk song which was predictable, overrated, slow and tedious) and My Little Soldier, to be fair though the last one was only ever uttered by his mum. “It's a good nickname [Autobahn not My Little Soldier]. I'm a fast player and strong - I also picked up the names Terminator and Robot,” said Cha Du-Ri while flexing his pecs for the benefit of two passing pigeons. “I love my nicknames as it shows people like my style. I'm sure the Celtic fans will like it too." Well we hope so too. Du-Ri almost inevitably arrived on a Bosman, being out of contract at German club SC Freiburg, battle-scarred and weary from struggling to live with the burden of his father’s reputation. Cha Bum-Kun, apparently, was a leading light of the Bundesliga in his time, and also the main man of the South Korean national team. Now if you managed to read Cha Senior’s name without a childish snigger, mingled with a sense of disappointment over a missed opportunity regarding the second part of the hyphenated, then you are a far better person than I am.

The attempts by the Central Committee's Political Bureau to recruit for Lennon’s Revolution also landed the services of Joe Ledley from Cardiff City, Daryl Murphy from Sunderland and Efrain Juarez from the far more exotically named UNAM Pumas of Mexico City. Ledley also arrived on a Bosman, having been out of contract at Cardiff City, although leaving with the best wishes of Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale: "He had made it clear for some time that if Cardiff didn't get promoted he would move on. He has done so. Trying then to blame me is a sad end to a great career at Cardiff." Ridsdale’s petted lip is understandable given the fact that the club lost out on the £2m compensation they would have received had Ledley gone to another club in the English leagues. If that wasn’t bad enough, the meanies at Celtic pulled another fast one as The Guardian explains: “Fifa's cross-border transfer rules mean he is able to move to Celtic for free. It is believed Celtic delayed confirmation of his signing until after the World Cup final to ensure Cardiff were unable to claim so-called training compensation, which is due if a player aged under 24 leaves a club during the season.”

Celtic in Penny-Pinching Sleekit Move? Never, I cannot bring myself to believe we would stoop to such a base act. Ledley for his part was well pleased: "Celtic is a massive club. I'm looking forward to the season and working with Neil and his coaching staff. This is the right time to leave Cardiff and look at my career. Hopefully we can win the league and cups and it gives me the opportunity to play in Europe too." Yes, well I wouldn’t expect too much on the European side if I were you Joe, but why introduce an unwelcome cloud to this silver lining? Even Peter Lawwell reappeared to get in on the good feeling: “We are pleased to have beaten off competition from a number of English Premier League clubs for his signature and we are sure he will be a great addition to our squad.” So everyone’s happy, well except Ridsdale of course but who cares what that Capitalist running dog has to say. Come the Revolution he’ll be the first against the wall.

Six foot three Daryl Murphy didn’t arrive in quite the same fanfare of universal celebration, although amazingly Celtic did pay money to Sunderland, presumably having explored every single possibility not to do so. Although figures such as £1.5m have been thrown around, it’s more likely the actual sum received by Sunderland was £800k, with perhaps a £20 book token thrown in as an act of sheer wanton generosity. Ominously while Ledley left Cardiff to grief-stricken lamentations from the locals, Murphy’s departure heralded mass jubilation, raspberries and sarcastic hankie-waving from Black Cat supporters. Not only did they questioned Murphy’s ability but also Lennon’s claim that the player would “take the knocks”. “Take the knocks has anyone ever seen Murphy take the knocks,” asked one supporter on a Sunderland forum. “Has anyone ever seen him win a 50/50 ball? Or even a 60/40 challenge?” The reply was “even 99/1 challenges are rare for the lad.” Most worryingly of all they were even trying psychological tricks to ensure the transfer took place: “As he hasn't quite gone yet, can I say that Darryl Murphy is an absolutely fantastic, committed player who has always gave 100% in a red and white shirt. Great buy for Celtic.”

Despite having failed to hold a place at Sunderland, and spells on loan with Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday, Murphy sounded confident that he could make a fresh start at Celtic and prove a roaring success. “I want to stake a claim to be first choice striker, that's my first aim,” he said as he leafed through The Bumper Book of Motivational Thinking. “I know, if given the chance to play as a striker and a run of games, I can score goals,especially in a team like Celtic who will be attacking a lot.” Well that’s more than some of your new colleagues can do, and the aforementioned Sunderland supporters thought he might do very well indeed, despite being rather crap; the theory being that even a duff player down south could do well in the SPL, and the annoying this is they might be right. Still though, the near unanimous celebration in Sunderland over his departure hardly inspires confidence, not with forums filled with comments such as“Bye Daryll and thanks for errrrrmmm........... leaving” and “On the 8.00am news on Radio Clyde, they headlined with ‘Sunderland Star on Celtic Radar’.I was driving to work wondering who they meant... was it Benty? Kenwyne? Catts? Then, as they finished the main news and got onto the sport, and said it was Murphy, I couldn't stop laughing.” Here’s hoping Daryl Murphy has the last laugh.

The final member of the trio, Efrain Juarez, carried no such negative baggage, deserved or otherwise, having been a regular feature of the successful Pumas side that won the club’s sixth Primera División de México title last year, not to mention forming part of the Mexican national side which won the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup (thumping the USA 5-0 in the final) and participated in the 2010 World Cup; lining up against South Africa, France and Argentina. Interestingly Juarez has proved very capable in both right-back and on the right-midfield positions, playing in the former position during every Mexican game in the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. “His best position is, no doubt about it, as a right-back,” said Daniel Ancheyta, a sports journalist for Grupo Imagen and Diario Excelsior, quoted in The Herald. “Nevertheless, the former manager of the Mexican team, Javier Aguirre, decided to play him as a midfielder in the past World Cup and he did very well.” With considerable competition for the right-back position already, including the recent arrival of Cha Du-Ri, presumably Lennon intends for Juarez to play a right midfield role at Celtic, even though rumours circulated that the Mexican had turned down a move to Barcelona as he wanted to stay in his favoured right-back role.

The sum paid to UNAM has been quoted as high as £4m, however it’s a little hard to believe that Celtic would shell this kind of cash out without Dermot Desmond being subdued and knocked out with chloroform for few weeks. £2.5m is possible although even with that John Reid has probably taken possession of Juarez’s first born to sell for medical experiments should the money turnout to be unwisely invested. The only small damp patch on the otherwise pristine sheets can be attributed to what appears to be the Mexican’s rather overly optimistic assessment of Celtic’s European standing. "It was the best decision I have taken,” a beaming Juarez told the Mexico City newspaper ESTO. “The team has placed its confidence in me, as has the board, the club,coaching staff and players. I can only work hard and ensure that the team is at the top of the league, and will play in the Champions League and advance to the group stages.” Well finishing top of the league may not be a hugely difficult task if Rangers fire sale continues, however the Champions League is another matter entirely and it will take a few new faces of Juarez’s calibre before Celtic can enter into that cauldron without wearing adult diapers.

Also in Celtic’s sights is Gary Hooper of Scunthorpe, who The Sun described as a “hotshot”, although latest reports have Peter Lawwell clutching his wallet and bursting into tears over the player’s £2m valuation (or “ransom fee” as the Daily Record described it), despite the fact that Lennon wasr eported to be anxious to finalise the signing before the Champions League registration cut-off. Sol Campbell finally managed to escape from the Kerrydale Street bunker, got married while on the run and is in hiding somewhere in the wilds trying to enjoy his honeymoon. Celtic remain hopeful that the veteran defender will be tempted by the £35k pw offer, especially with both Newcastle and Sunderland dropping out of the race thereby reducing Campbell’s options. One player who will definitely not be turning out in the Hoops on loan is Hull City invalid Jimmy “man of glass” Bullard, apparently having flounced off in the huff at the measly £45k wage offer (£30k from Celtic, £15k from Hull City), much to the teeth-gnashing fury of Hull's head of football operations, Adam Pearson. "The deal is off...because of the absolutely ridiculous financial demands being made by the player," said Pearson as he repeatedly jabbed a lit cigarette into a signed photo of Bullard.

With the departure of Artur Boruc, Celtic have turned to the unlikely figure of 39-year old David “Calamity” James to fill the gap between the sticks, reportedly after James approached the club via his agent following the failure of talks with both Sunderland and Portsmouth (gee thanks, James). Lennon described this act as “encouraging”, before warning that “We are still a long way off and it's early days in terms of negotiation.” James' agent Colin Gordon confirmed the premature nature of any wails/cheers: “I contacted Celtic after what happened with Boruc and we are really just waiting for Neil Lennon and Celtic to come back from America to see if it's something we can progress. So there is an interest but nothing more than that at the moment.” Keepers also linked with Celtic include Preston North End's Andy Lonergan, but the £2.5m price tag is reported to have cooled the club’s interest, while the Daily Mail also claims that Crystal Palace's former Dundee No 1 Julian Speroni and Coventry's Kieren Westwood have been mentioned as “possible candidates to take over from Boruc” without bothering to clarify just who did the mentioning (aside from the Daily Mail of course).

Celtic have also offered a two-year contract extension to Paddy McCourt, who has been the subject of Blackpool’s attentions, with Celtic then valuing the player at £500k, however Georgios “Greek Tragedy” Samaras remains on the danger list despite recent comments by Neil Lennon. With a year left on his contract, and a £2m offer on the table from Spanish club Hercules, Samaras looks a certainty for a cattle truck berth, however Lennon chewed his bottom lip and pondered: "He's a bit of an enigma and has certainly given us food for thought after the Manchester United game and now this one.We'll contemplate what we are going to do over the next few days but he is one of those players with a year to go on his contract, so maybe we'll wait until we get back and see where we go with it." Bizarrely Hercules coach Esteban Vigo uttered the following words in public: "We think Samaras can solve our problems in attack." If Vigo’s problem is a lack of someone to run around aimlessly, preferably far from where he’s meant to be, while showing all the fighting spirit and scoring ability of a depressed tulip, then he certainly will solve that by signing Tragedy.

The fact that Aiden McGeady remains at the club is something of a surprise,given the media reports of transfer offers featuring the kind of figures that would have the Celtic board reaching for a box of Kleenex. No longer is the cheery-faced little scamp heading to the frozen wastes of Muscovy, Spartak Moscow having their £8m allegedly rejected, now it’s down to the dreary post-industrial holocaust of the English midlands and Aston Villa. “Martin O'Neill is set to table a £10million bid for Celtic’s Aiden McGeady”, cried the Daily Mirror quoting an unnamed Celtic source stating: “Aiden loves playing against the best in Europe [eh? – Ed] but feels it maybe time to move on. He is aware of interest from Newcastle and Sunderland in the past. But the fact Aston Villa are now keen may appeal to him as he progressed as a youngster under Martin O'Neill." If the Mirror’s report has some substance, and O’Neill does put a £10m offer on the table, Celtic may throw financial caution to the wind and purchase a National Express bus ticket to speed the player on his way, such would be their haste.

McGeady would be missed, there’s no doubt about that, but with Celtic prone to miserly excess, a team requiring major strengthening and Cheery Chops being our only high value asset, the prospects of him turning out next season look bleak indeed. To sweeten the bitter pill we can always console ourselves with the knowledge that he never turned it on in the big games, is a greedy sod, has a final ball that’s often about as effective as an IPCC investigation, and is cruel to kittens – there I feel better already. Also seemingly heading out the door is Andreas Hinkel. Being one of the 766 right-backs on Celtic’s books, Hinkel came in one day to find his knapsack all tied up and ready, with a smiling Comrade Lennon holding the door open. A forlorn Andreas told STV: “The manager has talked about the players with just one more year left. He has spoken to me about that. I know I have just one more year and if there is an offer or something else I have to think about it, but so far there is nothing.” You’d have to have heart of stone not to be moved by that.

So that’s the story so far, basically not much change and still little sign of any street disturbances never mind a Revolution. Celtic’s net spending is difficult to estimate as previously mentioned, however it’s safe to say that club is either in the black or marginally in the red, whatever guess is accepted it amounts to no great investment to say the least, and there are considerable question marks over the quality of some of the signings. No need to panic yet though as there is still over a month to go, and Neil Lennon is now vowing to put all his considerable energy into securing those vital signatures. Speaking in the US following the Watch Between Fingers Exhibition tournament, he declared: "There has been a lot of talk about players coming in and out but nothing is happening because I've had my hands full out here. The bedlam will begin when we get back”; whether the bedlam turns out to be mass panic or frantic signing activity is something we’re about to discover.

The worrying aspect of the summer break, oddly enough, is the sight of the tremendous fire sale occurring over in Mordor. With Players leaving Ibrox in a steady stream, with nary a sign of anyone taking their place, the fear of Celtic’s notorious complacency is beginning to make itself felt. Despite official denials it’s difficult to accept that the club has not used Rangers demise to downsize accordingly, difficult in that had Rangers been spending madly as in days of old, would the board have been happy to sit and receive routine thrashings and second place obscurity? Maybe we shouldn’t go there. The fact remains though that the club faces a very difficult path to the Champions League, and as recent seasons have shown, take away the European glamour and all that’s left is the monotonous dross of the SPL. If the club is to make any kind of recovery as far as bums on seats are concerned, then ambition has to be embraced once again; an absence of such will simply expand the cloud of apathy permeating the Celtic atmosphere.

So Neil, Peter et al, let’s see this brand new age of yours, let us see that lessons have been learned and that ambition is no longer a dirty word. Raise the banners, kick over the statues, man the barricades and up the Revolution. As Che Guevara so wisely said: “ The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.” And in Celtic’s case that means bringing in players, changing attitude and spending money. Over to you, comrades.