NIR: WE’RE ALL DOING OUR BITT
Israeli star hits back at snipers and says Hoops are playing for Lenny
NIR BITTON is usually so laid back on and off the pitch it looks like he’s kicking around in a recliner.
But Celtic’s Mr Chilled showed a different side to his character deep in the gunnels of the San Siro after the Hoops lost to AC Milan. Bitton was angry. Raging. The big Israel star had the bit between the teeth as he hit out at the snipers who say Neil Lennon doesn’t have the backing of his dressing room.
He shot back at the punters who protested at the first sign of trouble after season after season of success.
But he’s also worked up about the horror run Celtic are on right now – and determined to get out of it.
It’s Lennon who remains in the firing line but Bitton is right behind him.
He said: “We always play for the manager. It’s been that way for the seven years I’ve been here.
“It’s nonsense what is being said on the outside. I’ve never heard anyone say they’re not playing for the manager.
“We all have a good connection with him. At the end of the day we play for ourselves as well. We play for our pride, our families and for the fans.
“We don’t like to get slaughtered. I don’t think we deserve it, after what we have done, especially in the last four years.
“But this is football. We need to look forward and create more happy moments for the fans and for the team. I have no doubt we will do it.”
Lennon was given the backing of his board this week despite the intense heat. It’s business as usual for
Bitton but he insisted there’s nothing sinister happening behind the scenes
He said: “This is none of our business – we don’t think about it. We are on a bad run of games right now but we all support and play for each other, like it’s always been.
“From the outside it looks like something weird has happened but that’s far from the case. We are strong and have enough quality to make a change happen – we will make it happen.
“We don’t think about it. We go into every game with the purpose of winning.
“The manager is the one who gets the stick but we deserve it because we’re not performing at the level we want to and that’s nothing to do with the manager. We need to play for each other and with the quality we have in the squad I am sure we will make it.”
It was a strange night in Milan. Celtic had spells when they looked back to their best but, at other times, it was the same old defensive problems.
A two-goal lead evaporated and it ended up a familiar result in this season’s damaging Europa League run.
Bitton said: “We are disappointed with the result but I felt we played well as a team against a top side.
“Again, we conceded four goals and it’s not good enough at this level. It’s not good enough at any level.
“We showed moments of how good we can be, we’re still a strong team.
“We believe in our quality, we have a strong squad, we have belief in ourselves and we need to show it now.” It’s clear something has to change. Celtic have shipped an eye-watering 27 goals in their last 11 games and have the worst defensive record in the Europa League. Bitton said: “Every team in history goes on a bad run. We are just a bit unlucky, everything is going against us. “But it’s not an excuse. We conceded four goals tonight but for a long p e r i od we defended well.”