OVER AND OVER
Lennon admits 10 in a row and his job are hanging by a thread after latest flop
NEIL LENNON admits Celtic’s title hopes are hanging by a thread – along with his managerial reign.
The pressure is piling on the manager after yesterday’s 1-1 draw with St Johnstone saw Celtic slip 13 points behind leaders Rangers.
Lennon’s side have won just two of their last 12 games and have now gone five home games in a row without a win for the first time in 62 years.
There were more fan protests outside Parkhead and further calls for the manager to go. And some angry supporters even stormed towards the team bus as it left.
Lennon admitted Celtic’s 10-in-a-row bid is in desperate danger – but he won’t give up just yet.
He said: “Listen, we need to be realistic. I wouldn’t say
it’s over but we are making it more difficult for ourselves. We need to start winning games and winning them well.”
Lennon was given the backing of powerbroker Dermot Desmond and the Parkhead board last week and he is confident that won’t have changed despite another dire result.
He said: “I don’t think so. I don’t want it to change either. I want to keep working. I have got good people behind me.”
When asked if his time was up though Lennon replied: “I can’t answer that. I don’t want to pre-empt anything. I want to keep working to try to turn it around. We need a bit of swagger back in the team.
“It is missing at the minute. Some players aren’t fit enough and that has been the case for a long time. Some players are just not in good form.
“They need some respite at some stage and they need some support from me. But, again, it is a two way thing. The players have got to play better. We have tried everything to get the performances right.”
Lennon insisted the fans are right to be raging at his side’s wretched form.
He said: “I understand their frustrations. When we are not playing well, and not getting results. But there are ways and means, and some fans are more irate than others.
“But right now I agree with them that our performances don’t equal the quality that we have, and if that falls on me then so be it. If there is going to be a change then so be it, but I’ll not stop working to try to get it right.”
Lennon refused to say if he’d quit if the results don’t pick up but is looking for a quick solution to the problems piling up at Parkhead. He said: “That is a hypothetical question so I am not going to answer it.
“I just need to get the players back to the levels that they’re capable of. Do we look at our training? Do we look at our routines? Do we look at our set-ups?
“We have analysed all those things to death. The players have to look at themselves as well. We are better than this. We need to find a solution to this as quickly as possible. It is too tentative.
“The play is too tense. We are taking too many passes to get the ball forward and there is not enough quality in the final ball.”
Lennon is on the ropes and admitted his squad’s confidence is at rock bottom. He said: “I don’t want to be critical of the players but we are missing that spark, that fluency.
“I don’t doubt, because I know these players, and there is a definite lack of confidence there.
“They have a lack of confidence in themselves, and also a lack of confidence in each other. So they have to get that back quickly. They proved they can do that last year, but this year so far it has been a struggle.
“It might be a lack of attitude or a lack of desire, but there are bits and pieces that I see that I can’t really change overnight.
“As far as the league is concerned, we are making it very, very difficult for ourselves to get back into it.”
Meanwhile, two men were arrested during last night’s protests.
The pair were detained in connection with disorder offences as fans gathered to vent their frustrations at the board and Lennon.
Video footage showed a group shouting expletives and calling for Lennon and the board to be sacked.
Then police had to rush in to protect the team bus as some fans chased it down as it left the scene. It was unclear if any missiles were thrown towards it.