Celtic ship has been steadied but Peter Lawwell is not one to be fooled by false dawns.. the acid test comes on the opposite side of the Clyde at the weekend
Lennon needs Ibrox victory to remain in hotseat
WHERE once they were the Invincibles, now Celtic have become the Inconvincibles.
Not quite sure where they are heading under Neil Lennon and, in this season of all seasons, unable to rediscover the levels of form which will almost certainly be required in order to salvage their hopes of a 10th successive title.
Yes, the ship has been steadied over these last three weeks which is precisely what chief executive Peter Lawwell was banking on when he threw his weight behind the manager even though his own car park was coming under siege.
Lawwell studied the festive fixture list and concluded that Lennon still had enough left in his managerial locker to stabilise Celtic’s top-flight campaign by beating Kilmarnock, Ross County, Hamilton and Dundee United while also delivering last season’s Scottish Cup, completing an astonishing run of four successive clean sweeps.
It was a calculated gamble and, to an extent, it has already paid out.
Of course, Micky Mellon’s rope-a-dope United could yet provide an awkward test on Wednesday afternoon but at least this recent run of results has kept the banner writers and their bed sheets socially distanced for the time being.
This was probably the best scenario for which Lawwell could have hoped when he made the decision to stick rather than twist and bow to the baying mob gathered outside his office window.
But the man in charge of plotting Celtic’s fortunes didn’t get to where he is by being fooled by false dawns. No, Lawwell always knew the acid test for Lennon and his players would come on the other side of the year and on the opposite side of the Clyde, where they will first foot the neighbours on Saturday knowing anything less than three points will leave them in an even more perilous position going into 2021.
This then could well be
Lennon’s last chance to prove he does indeed have a plan for this team – a genuine, well thought out strategy for suppressing the Rangers resurgence – rather than a series of on-the-spot repair jobs which are being made up as Celtic’s car crash season clatters along.
That’s what it has looked like lately but then again Lennon has found himself with little choice. Having wound up in a full-blown crisis, the manager was left with no other option but to ring the changes and hope for the best.
Now, though, comes the time for some serious reflection and for even more monumental decisions to be made.
For example, what exactly does Lennon do with his battle hardened skipper Scott Brown, who has been the biggest victim of this hurried mid-season reshuffle?
Has Lennon seen enough of Ismaila Soro to be convinced that the 22-year-old Ivorian is really an upgrade on one of the greatest, most reliable Celtic captains of all time?
Does he truly believe Soro’s energy and youthful enthusiasm are more important to his side than all of Brown’s vast expertise and, in particular, his Old Firm ring craft?
So far it seems Lennon is not quit sure. That Brown came back into his starting line-up for the Cup Final showdown with Hearts was in itself an indication that the manager still regards the veteran as a cornerstone of his team. A pillar on whom he can hang his black woolly hat.
And yet, having revved up this recent revival by turning to the likes of Soro, David Turnbull and Conor Hazard, he has also created quite the predicament for himself. The truth is, he has
no way of knowing if these young guns can be trusted to turn Rangers over at Ibrox. And, against this backdrop of uncertainty, no margin for error.
The Northern Irishman will know his job security most probably depends upon these players securing a win on derby day. While a draw would not be the worst result in the world for Steven Gerrard, it might well rip the bottom out of Lennon’s.
With so very much at stake then the temptation to revert to the tried and tested might well prove impossible to resist, even though Lennon knows what the repercussions will be should the old guard fail to put a dent in this Rangers challenge.
He’ ll stand accused of trying the same things over and over again while hoping for a different result and it doesn’t take Albert Einstein to work out how that one ends.
And yet the return of the Leigh Griffiths and Odsonne Edouard double act also points to Lennon going back to what he knows works best.
It was this goal- laden combination which fired Celtic clear at the top of the table after they were toppled of their perch by Rangers at the start of 2020 and Lennon now appears to be banking on them doing something similar, even if he has cause to feel seriously undermined and perhaps even betrayed by both of them.
Had Griffiths kept himself in professional shape during the lockdown then Lennon might never have found himself jammed into such a sticky spot.
And if Edouard had not effectively downed tools for so much of these last five months then the manager wouldn’t have been left scrambling around hoping for other inferior options to suddenly come good. Again, he finds himself with no choice but to reinvest his trust in this pair and cross his fingers in the knowledge that they are capable of blowing holes in any defence whenever they feel inclined to do so.
It could work. Celtic have the firepower and the depth of talent to escape from the clutches of this horrible annus and to come back with all guns blazing in the new year. Beat Rangers on their own turf, cut the gap at the top and give Gerrard cause to fret for the first time this season. We’re about to di scover i f the manager has finally cracked the code required to make all of that happen. And if his players have the desire to implement it.