TOSH McKINLAY: Trust in Gord to get transfer deals right

WHAT a week this is gearing up to be for Gordon Strachan. A disciplinary
hearing today, a game at Fir Park tomorrow and the transfer window closing
at midnight on Thursday.

Koki Mizuno has finally completed his deal while Giorgos Samaras has
joined the club on loan with a view to making that a permanent move
at the end of the season - and it's an ideal piece of business.

The Greek striker is just 22 and, although he didn't have the best
of times in the English Premier League, he will be keen to rejuvenate
his career in Glasgow and another striker is exactly what Celtic have
been crying out for.

And I still think that behind the scenes the club will be working to
bring in maybe one more player and possibly move a few on, with Maciej
Zurawski just about set to quit Parkhead.

Much of the work done now will not only have a significant bearing
on the remainder of the season, but will also contribute in the longer
term to maintain Celtic's healthy accounts.

So far Gordon's dealings in the transfer market have been pretty clever.
Before he arrived, I thought Celtic were guilty of being a bit negligent,
because they would allow players who were on substantial money to run
down their contracts and there would be no way of getting any money
back when they were ready to go.

But Strachan made sure he got good money for the likes of Stilian Petrov
and Shaun Maloney, and he also brought in Kenny Miller on a Bosman and
then made a tidy profit when he sold him at the start of the season
for £3million.

It's a far cry from allowing a situation like Bobo Balde's to develop,
where the club are over a barrel and are stuck with one of the highest
earners not being part of the manager's plans.

Artur Boruc also falls into the camp where the club are well covered
financially should someone come calling for him and that is just common
sense.

The thing about signing in younger lads like Ben Hutchinson on a pre-contract
and Samaras is there is always the chance to sell them on in a few years
and ensure you get money back into the club.

And, if we're being honest, that's what Celtic have to be looking at
doing now and I'm sure that if and when big money is spent by the club,
it will be on players who will have a resale value a few years down
the line.

He'll have been working through a list of names, with an amount he
is prepared to pay for each, and if he doesn't get his first choice
he'll either wait until summer or go for an alternative.

As he's shown in the past, he won't sign players just for the sake
of it.

The likes of scouts Ray Clarke and Tom O'Neil will know exactly who
Strachan would like.

They will be doing the spade- work this week, with chief executive
Peter Lawwell doing the nitty gritty in terms of organising the money.

There is no doubt that bringing in a couple of players now to help
you over the course of the second half of the campaign could be hugely
important in terms of winning the title.

But right now nothing will be more important to Strachan than tomorrow's
game because the title takes precedence over everything and that is
where his main concern will lie.