It's tempting to judge a club's transfer window the minute the window closes but the labours of a long summer often don't become immediately apparent.
Celtic had another busy few months but there was a different feel and focus to Ange Postecoglou 's business in comparison to the scramble of his first few months in charge. With a Scottish Premiership title and Premier Sports Cup in the bag from last season, the summer market was all about building on that success with targeted additions and enhancement of squad depth.
Postecoglou used words such as "versatility" and "robustness" when discussing transfers, also voicing his express desire to avoid the kind of strain on playing resources that a spate of injuries foisted on Celtic in the first half of last season. It remains early days in the new campaign but there are signs the vision Postecoglou outlined over the break is coming to fruition in a number of ways...
Robustness and versatility
With a truncated Champions League campaign beckoning, it was clear Celtic would be forced to stand up the rigours of a packed schedule. Making his squad more "robust" was a repeated Postecoglou phrase over the summer and the evidence so far is he may have succeeded, domestically at least.
Celtic swept Hibs aside with impressive ease considering the number of changes to the starting XI, with new signings Alexandro Bernabei, Sead Haksabanovic and Aaron Mooy proving their worth. Bernabei has had to wait for his chance but his weekend performance indicates he's more than capable of excelling in the Premiership, while it appears Haksabanovic is now starting get into his stride having needed some extra time to bring his fitness up to scratch.
Mooy was hooked at half-time in defeat to St Mirren last month but the experienced midfielder strolled through the weekend rout. With Oliver Abildgaard also waiting for a chance, Celtic appear well equipped to mitigate Callum McGregor's absence as much as reasonably possible.
Conjuring up gems
Liel Abada, Kyogo, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Reo Hatate, Matt O'Riley, Josip Juranovic, Jota - a quite dazzling succession of transfer hits at a club who had more than their fair share of duds pre-Postecoglou.
The question this season was whether the manager could sustain this form and in Haksabanovic he seems to have unearthed another. With the versatile attacker looking for a way out of Russian club Rubin Kazan, Celtic were well-placed to pounce and clearly well-versed on what the Montenegro international would bring.
The 23-year-old's capture is beginning to look like another smart piece of business. Young, versatile and technically excellent, Haksabanovic certainly fits the signing profile Celtic have pursued time and again, and the player's own recent comments on joining the club suggest he "gets it", as supporters like to say.
Lighting a fire
A lesser-discussed consequence of a busy summer transfer window is how that business affects those already in the building. It's often assumed the arrival of a shiny new signing can spell the end for some of the less fashionable members of a squad but there's evidence the opposite is true at Celtic this season.
When exciting footage of Bernabei blazing up and down the left flank for Argentine side Lanus emerged alongside news of his imminent move to Parkhead, there were some who assumed it the beginning of the end for Greg Taylor. Scapegoated at times in recent years, the former Kilmarnock defender took one look at Bernabei's signing and kicked on to a new level entirely.
He's come to epitomise Postecoglou's inverted full-back system and although Bernabei has impressed in recent weeks, it's the Scotland international who remains first choice. And evidence from Saturday's hosing of Hibs suggests Taylor isn't the only one under whom Postecoglou's transfer strategy has lit a fire.
James Forrest, barely seen this season until he smashed in a hat-trick at the weekend, is now very much back in the frame for a starting berth despite finding himself behind Jota, Haksabanovic, Daizen Maeda and Abada thus far in the campaign.
Escaping 'chaos'
Given the scale of the overhaul facing Postecoglou when he walked in the door, there was little doubt the Aussie's first season in charge would feature a few bumps. But even the generally unflappable Aussie must have found himself cursing the steady spate of injuries that stretched Celtic's squad to the very limit as a busy autumn/winter schedule kicked in.
Jamming square pegs into round holes and filling his bench with untested academy prospects just to get by became a weekly occurrence as popping hamstring after popping hamstring put a number of his big hitters on the sidelines. Of course, it all worked out fine in the end but it's clear the manager wasn't for risking a repeat of such selection stress.
Postecoglou is measured in his choice of words but even he admitted it all got a bit "chaotic". Adding greater depth to his squad has ensured, so far at least, there's always someone waiting in the wings if a first pick is struck down by injury.
