Celtic midfielder Neil Lennon has told the club's board that they must spend big, or they will run the risk of the club going backwards in Europe.
The Bhoys have lost all three of their Champions League games this season, and Lennon is blaming the shoe-string budget that manager Martin O'Neill was handed going into the current campaign.
O'Neill was unable to find a genuine replacement for striker Henrik Larsson and instead had to settle for Wolves' frontman Henri Camara, a player who is obviously not up to the high standards set by the Swede.
After finishing as runners-up to Porto in the UEFA Cup in May 2003, O'Neill has not been allowed to strengthen the squad in any significant way and Lennon believes that Celtic's current results in Europe are the legacy of his lack of funding.
Lennon said: "We have put in so much good work in Europe and we don't want that to start ebbing away, but it's looking that way at the minute unless we can strengthen the squad. Maybe not now but definitely next season."
"We have put up some decent performances before but perhaps the team and squad is not as good as it was a year or two ago. That's not for the players or the manager, it's for the people upstairs to look at," the midfielder insisted.
"I can't tell the board what to do. However, if we are to progress in this competition - and if it's what we really, really want - then obviously we have to spend eventually."
"I think if the club could get a wee bit of backing we could really go places with this manager but, right now, we seem to be going backwards, rather than forwards."
