VOTING is about to close on Celtic's in-house awards, and the successor to Shunsuke Nakamura as Player of the year will be announced at gala dinner a week on Sunday.

The night should have been a end-of-season event, with players and management alike either toasting another title success or drowning their sorrows about the one that got away.

However, as the final league match has been pushed back from that day to Thursday, May 22, celebrating still being in the race as it heads down to the wire will have to suffice.

Whoever succeeds Shunsuke Nakamura as the club's Player of the Year would definitely swap this award for a championship medal.

Such has been the effort put into clawing back the massive advantage Rangers enjoyed just over a month ago that still being in there battling at this stage is considered to be an achievement in its own right.

But, as ever in the hyper-critical Scottish game, first is everything, second is nothing, though what that made trailing in third as Rangers did behind Celtic and Hearts in 2006 is anyone's guess.

Since then, the squads at Celtic and Rangers have changed dramatically. And this summer promises to see yet another cull and fresh intake of (hopefully) talent. Walter Smith has already been told he can expect around £10million to spend during this close season, a fund bolstered by Rangers' run to the Uefa Cup Final after they failed to qualify from their Champions League group.

Gordon Strachan has already held talks with the men who hold the purse strings at Celtic. But, as per normal practice, what resources he will have at his disposal when this window opens in a few weeks has not been leaked.

Considering the profits posted by the club in the last two seasons, underpinned by qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League, Strachan is entitled to believe he may be cut a little more slack after three years of helping drive down costs by building teams utilising players who cost much less than the £6m the club previously paid for the likes of Chris Sutton, John Hartson and Neil Lennon.

The targets have been in place for some considerable time. But the green light can't be pressed until the destination of this season's league title - and £10m Champions League group stage direct access ticket that comes with it - is known.

Another imponderable is what cash will be freed up by the sale or release of players already on the books, with the return of Thomas Gravesen and Adam Virgo from their loans spells at Everton and Colchester respectively a timely reminder of how some investments can hang around your neck like very expensive millstones.

LikewisE, Bobo Balde's determination to see out the remaining year of his lucrative contract ties up more cash which the manager would be happier using in other areas.

But there will be players more willing to cut their losses and go, with Derek Riordan heading the queue, Lee Naylor expected to be not far behind him and Steven Pressley already announcing his time at the club is up as his contract runs down.

Having in January rejected an offer from Burnley of £400,000 for Riordan, with another £200,000 if they won promotion and a further payment if he made a certain number of appearances, Celtic are clearly not interested in indulging in any fire sales and will hold out for what they consider to be the market value of their players.

This is not a case of cutting off their nose to spite their face.

This is business and Celtic cite the fact that, when attempting to operate in England's inflated market place, they are invariably asked to pay full price (£4m for Kyle Lafferty, anyone?). So they don't believe they should be treated as the proprietors of some kind of bargain basement.

On a different scale, Celtic also recognise the value of prize assets such as Artur Boruc, whose summer departure continues to be a regular source of speculation back in his homeland.

Indeed, in some parts of Poland it is considered only a matter of whether the popular keeper moves to such as AC Milan or Bayern Munich before this summer's Euro 2008 finals, or after.

A nonchalant disregard is given to the fact Boruc this season signed a new contract binding him to Celtic until 2011.

The belief among his countrymen, and a few people here, is that if the offer was big enough, Celtic could not afford to turn it down, with the £9m Hearts received for Craig Gordon the yardstick.

No one at Parkhead is naive enough to attempt to deny that, if the price is right, offers for any player must be given full consideration. The trick is to repeat the feat when Stilian Petrov moved to Aston Villa and £8m was poured into the club's coffers before being re-invested.

Even without movement out, there are areas which need to be improved, with another full-back, a central midfielder and a striker - if Georgios Samaras's loan is not converted to a full deal - the most obvious.

It is a young group, with much potential for improvement. But, you are only as strong as your weakest link, and there are weaknesses.

Attracting players of the quality required - and retaining the valuable ones already here - will be much easier if Celtic can offer guaranteed Champions League group action rather than the promise they can safely negotiate two qualifying rounds.

The final 180 minutes of action will determine the strength of Strachan's hand.