You could well understand the ire of Celtic’s hierarchy when they learned that they would be forced to raise the flag on a Monday evening rather than the traditional first Saturday of the new season.With Glasgow 2026 cycling events taking place at the adjacent Sir Chris Hoy Arena over the weekend and Calvin Harris staging two concerts at Hampden, the champions were told by the authorities that there was no dice.Yet, it actually seems fitting that the formalities which have played out in 14 of the past 15 seasons won’t quite have the same pizazz as normal. After yet another low-key transfer window – to this point, at least – an enforced switch to a fag-end slot feels appropriate.Rewind to June. Less than three weeks after the side claimed the most unlikely league and cup double, and following confirmation that Martin O’Neill would remain in charge, interim chairman Brian Wilson promised Celtic would be ‘very active’ with their recruitment ‘in the coming weeks’ as he issued a renewed call for unity among the fanbase.There’s no need to rake over every detail of what had gone before, but the trophies the side ultimately lifted in no way masked a shambolic campaign.Three different men took charge over four spells, the recruitment was diabolical – leading directly to a costly humiliation at the hands of Kairat Almaty in the Champions League play-off – which culminated in the fan base and the board being at each other’s throats. Celtic chairman Brian Wilson had promised that the club would be ‘very active’ in the marketCeltic, bluntly, got away with it largely because O’Neill still had the Midas touch at the age of 74 and also because neither Rangers nor Hearts had quite enough going down the home straight.Asked in a club interview if the manager would be given the resources to improve the squad for the upcoming campaign, Wilson said: ‘Absolutely, and that is very much part of the basis on which he’s wanted to come back and we’ve wanted him to come back.‘It’s going to be a very active next few weeks, and we must come out of it with a stronger squad.‘We had a lot of very, very good players, so we want to not only retain that strength but also to build on it.’On the morning that Celtic’s title defence begins, have the intervening weeks felt ‘very active’, as Wilson promised? Hardly.Notwithstanding the acquisitions of Camilo Duran and Kasper Hogh, the club continues to move at a glacial pace when it comes to the task of supporting the football department. Kasper Hogh has arrived for a club record fee from Bodo/Glimt and looks a shrewd signingTo be fair, both the Colombian and the Norwegian do look like fine acquisitions. Duran scored five goals for Qarabag in the Champions League last season. Hogh netted the same number for Bodo/Glimt.Credit where it’s due then. Celtic have splashed £17million on two players who look ready for the highest level of European football. Not before time, you might say.It’s the fact that the pair are the sum total of the incoming business to be completed as Dundee come to town that sees the fanbase return to Parkhead with a familiar sense of exasperation.Sure, the transfer window doesn’t close until September 3 and no manager in the league will be fully satisfied with their squad as it stands.But Celtic – in what’s become their customary fashion – are still miles away from delivering on Wilson’s promises as the curtain comes up.Daizen Maeda, outstanding in the seven straight wins which took Celtic to the title, is now an Ipswich player with another £10million cascading into the kitty.Arne Engels’ departure to West Ham or Nottingham Forest will happen the moment Celtic’s valuation is met. A bid from Everton for Alistair Johnston is incoming. Camilo Duran has made his mark in pre-season and also has Champions League pedigreeWhile Cameron Carter-Vickers’ return affords O’Neill the chance to work with arguably the most complete central defender in the league for the first time, Jota isn’t expected to return until October.The Portuguese will have been out of action for 18 months at that point. It would be insane for Celtic to expect too much from him.O’Neill needs a better goalkeeper than Viljami Sinisalo, cover at left-back for Kieran Tierney and some serious operators from middle to front if Duran and Hogh are to get the service they require.With Maeda no more, the manager’s best options on the flank presently are Hyun-jun Yang, 35-year-old James Forrest and Seb Tounekti. It’s safe to say that he’s given up on trying to get a tune out of Michel-Ange Balikwisha, a scandalous waste of money at £4.5million.There’s strong interest in Haissem Hassan, Real Oviedo’s Egyptian winger, and the club are back in for Fares Ghedjemis, who plays on the flank for Italian side Frosinone.Mika Baur, Paderborn’s central midfielder, has been the subject of haggling over a transfer fee for three weeks now.Celtic might well get there in the end with all three before the window shuts. But as well as league games with Kilmarnock, Falkirk and Aberdeen and a Premier Sports Cup clash with Dundee United, there’s the small matter of that Champions League play-off to come. Martin O’Neill still has a number of squad issues to keep him occupied as a new season startsThe identity of their opponent will be known today. Whether it’s a favourable draw such as Sabah of Azerbaijan or a more taxing assignment like Viking Stavanger, the danger of going in ill-prepared hardly needs stressing after last year’s embarrassment. The club has a fortnight to ensure that’s not the case.While there’s an acceptance that the time is also probably right for Reo Hatate and Paulo Bernardo to move on, you couldn’t discount a problematic bid for Benjamin Nygren landing.The Swede hit 21 goals last season on his way to the World Cup, numbers which attract the kind of late offers which clubs cannot refuse.Only the most naïve among the fan base would believe that Callum McGregor’s situation is settled either. For all the captain reiterated that he wanted to stay at the club last week, it cannot be forgotten that he recently made it clear that it was contingent on the hierarchy matching his ambition.With interest from Saudi remaining in the shape of former managers, Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou, that question is still unanswered.The symbolic raising of the flag this evening takes place with the peace uneasy and mounting concerns about the club’s ability to function as it should. The games may be over but the trials for Celtic supporters go on.