CELTS ARE READY TO LET LOOSE
Lennon expects team to take Bolingoli frustrations out on Euro opponents
WHEN Celtic’s Champions League hopes go up in flames, Boli Bolingoli can usually be found at the scene of the crime holding a petrol can.
The Belgian’s awful defensive display in a 1-1 draw with Cluj in Romania 12 months ago provoked a crisis of trust from which the £3million signing from Rapid Vienna never recovered.
Neil Lennon threw Callum McGregor — a midfielder — in at left-back for the return in Glasgow. And the Parkhead side shipped four goals as they missed out on the group stage for a second year.
The quest to avoid a hat-trick of qualifying failures begins tonight and, once again, Bolingoli is back in the headlines. A hallmark of his unsatisfying stay in Glasgow has been calamitous decision-making.
Not just on the pitch — where he struggles with the basics of defending — but also off it where a day trip to Spain suggests that the only thing he is good at is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
By skipping quarantine, the leftback’s folly prompted First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to administer a yellow card to Scottish football and to Celtic.
Scotland’s champions should negotiate tonight’s one-off first-round qualifier against KR Reykjavik in Glasgow comfortably. They would feel more confident of going through all four rounds, however, had their last two league games against St Mirren and Aberdeen gone ahead as normal. Both were postponed on the orders of the Scottish Government.
‘We’ve just made the best of the situation,’ admitted manager Lennon yesterday. ‘We’ve had a good week’s training. Obviously, we would have liked the games under our belt going into this one, but the players are just itching to get back on the pitch and get playing again.
‘It’s been very frustrating. I think I’ve been pretty difficult to live with at home. We’re all itching to get back into competitive action. We all know the importance of the game and those coming up.
‘We’re fully focused on getting back into the style of play and the intensity of play that we’ve become accustomed to over the last 16 months or so.’
To lay all the blame for the failures of the last two years at Bolingoli’s door would be unfair.
In 2018, he had yet to join the club when Brendan Rodgers’ simmering discontent with a perceived lack of transfer funds culminated in defeat to AEK Athens.
Then, as last year when they lost to Cluj, Celtic’s efforts were undermined by an inability to sign new players quickly enough.
Worryingly, the signs of lessons being learned are slight. As Sportsmail first revealed last week, Lennon spoke to Brighton’s central defender Shane Duffy about a one-year loan deal.
To secure the Irishman’s nononsense qualities would take a hefty £2m fee and a willingness to find an English Premiership wage.
With West Brom and West Ham willing to sign him permanently, movement so far has been slow.
‘I’m not going to comment on potential targets or players we may be interested in,’ added Lennon. ‘I just think that’s folly at the minute.
‘As I’ve said ad nauseum, we’re looking at a couple of positions to strengthen and hopefully we can do that over the next week or so. We’re juggling some balls and that’s always the case when the transfer window is open.
‘We’re looking at areas we need to add to. We’ve cleared the decks quite a bit this year and Marian Shved has just gone to Mechelen as well, so we’re looking to add one or two to what we already have.
‘I’m pretty happy with the squad and the way it is shaping up at the minute, but it’s always good to add one or two where and when we can.’
Left-back is another area where Celtic are looking. Bayern Munich look likely to secure a deal for Aaron Hickey of Hearts despite interest from Parkhead and Bologna.
Leeds United’s Barry Douglas is another option under consideration.
‘We’re always looking for quality,’ said Lennon. ‘I’m not saying Marian is not a quality player, but it’s probably ideal for him to go and play and get some badly-needed game time, which he may or may not have got here.
‘He didn’t play that much last season, and that was the case with (Vakoun Issouf) Bayo as well.
‘It’s important these players go out and get that experience. They are still young enough to come back and make an impact at this club but, just at the minute, it’s the right thing to do as far as we’re concerned.’
Ideally, Celtic would have their business done before their annual tilt at the Champions League.
While ten in a row has nudged Europe down the priority list of supporters this summer, that’s unlikely to dilute the fallout if qualification for the group stage proves beyond them for a third consecutive year. Two one-off ties, against KR then Ferencvaros or Djurgardens, look negotiable. The problems usually start a round later.
‘It’s always important for the club,’ said Lennon. ‘We missed out on the Champions League group stage in the previous two seasons and we want to go one better this time. We had a good Europa League campaign last season which ended disappointingly but the players will have got a great deal of experience from that.
‘The big European nights brighten up the season. They are important for the gravitas of the club and the development of the players, individually and as a team, to come up against the best. The Champions League is the best competition in the world. For myself as a coach, it would be amazing to go back there with this group of players.
‘But it’s not about me. It’s about the likes of Jeremie Frimpong, Chris Jullien and Hatem Abd Elhamed who haven’t experienced it before.
‘Also guys like Ryan Christie and even Odsonne Edouard, who haven’t had much football at that level. So it’s pivotal we try and negotiate these ties and then it opens up the season for you. In terms of their actual experience as players, there is nothing better than the Champions League.
‘I was late coming to that party. I was 29, 30 when I signed for Celtic.
‘I’d played in the Premier League but the pace, intensity and quality of the Champions League was fantastic. I want these players to experience that but we need to do the hard work first and these are difficult games to negotiate.’