As if facing a lengthy trip to the far end of Kazakhstan isn’t daunting enough, Celtic fans are left wondering when or if Brendan Rodgers will get to splash the cash.

With the play-off tie against Kairat Almaty starting with next week’s first leg in Glasgow, what should be the start of another exciting Euro adventure is already fraught with nerves as Celtic’s reinforcements are slow in arriving.

Last season, Rodgers’ men successfully navigated the group phase, but were undone by Bayern Munich in the knockout play-off round.

Apart from a sound trashing by Borussia Dortmund, they made a great account of themselves in Europe’s premier competition and the assumption would be they would look to kick on and go again.

So far, the transfers haven’t exactly whipped the fans into a frenzy.  Eight players have been signed – two free transfers, one loan and four involving fees totalling somewhere between £4 million and £5 million.

All of whom will no doubt do a job in some capacity, maybe in the long term, but it’s not exciting the supporters.

Last year, they spent over £40 million and broke their transfer record twice by bringing in Adam Idah from Norwich for £9 million and Arne Engels for £11 million, both of whom haven’t quite set the heather alight.

So who is to blame for this lack of activity?

The Celtic boss has remained diplomatic in his comments when it comes to transfer activity, but the undercurrent seems to be of a man frustrated that his attempts to really strengthen the team haven’t come to fruition.

Rodgers is a man with ambition.  Since the day he first walked into Celtic Park, he’s always wanted to take them to the next level.  Last season, he did.  This season, who knows?

Between the reported £30 million – £40 million in prize money, depends on who you read, not to mention the sale of Nicolas Kuhn to Como for £16 million, the coffers have been swelled again.

Now, it’s not for this writer to expect Celtic to splash the money once it starts burning a hole in their pocket, but fans are right to wonder just where the cash is going if they’re not spending it to upgrade the team.

Why are the board so frugal and are they willing to irk Rodgers again?  Let’s not forget, the Northern Irishman has seen this movie before, which played its part in him leaving for Leicester.

The squad deadline is 11pm tonight to register any new players for the Kairat tie and, barring any major development, the current squad, as is, will be trusted to try and get them to the group stage.

If the plan is to wait and see if Celtic can do it before they splash the cash in the manner they did in the final week of last August’s transfer window, it’s a risky strategy.

If they don’t qualify, what then?  It’s a Europa League campaign, which is where they don’t want to be ideally.

Failure to reach the Champions League will lead to further disgruntlement for the fans and maybe even tip Rodgers towards the exit door again.

The next couple of weeks will really show the level of ambition the Celtic board have.  Domestically, there shouldn’t be any problems, but complacency could be a killer for them.