DREAM OF TEN FADES
Lennon admits hopes are slim but will fight on
NEIL LENNON last night vowed to battle on as Celtic boss despite admitting the club’s ten-in-a-row dream is as good as over.
The beleaguered Parkhead manager is fighting for his job after a 1-1 home draw with St Johnstone extended his side’s dismal run to two wins in 12 games — while Rangers stretched their lead at the top to 13 points after a 4-0 win at Ross County.
Only an equaliser f rom substitute Mohamed Elyounoussi seven minutes from time denied St Johnstone their first win at Parkhead in five years, with angry fans again turning up at Celtic Park in the aftermath of the latest setback.
Although conceding his side will struggle to peg back Steven Gerrard’s team, Lennon
hopes Celtic directors continue to resist the clamour among fans to sack him.
Asked if the latest title setback was likely to change his position after his reprieve following last weekend’s Betfred Cup exit to Ross County, 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. I just need to get the players back to the levels that they’re capable of. If there is going to be a change then so be it, but I’ll not stop working to try and get it right. I don’t want to pre- empt anything. I want to keep working to try and turn it around.’
With a dead-rubber Europa League tie against Lille next up on Thursday, Lennon admitted the league title is now heading the same way as the club’s participation in Europe and the Betfred Cup.
‘Listen, we need to be realistic. I wouldn’t say it’s over, but we are making it more difficult for ourselves,’ he continued.
‘ We tried to change i t at half- time, to get a bit more urgency in our play. That’s what’s missing: a lack of urgency, a lack of penetration, and not working their goalkeeper enough.
‘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 to play better. We have tried everything we can to get the performances right.’
Celtic’ son lyle ague victory since beating St Johnstone in Perth on October 4 was a 4-1 win over Motherwell last month.
Addressing a run of two wins, six defeats and f our draws, Lennon admitted: ‘It is not great. It is what it is.’
Furious supporters once again turned up outside the ground despite a heavy police presence and a ring of steel fences around the stadium. Online footage last night showed a group of fans charge at a team coach as it tried to pull away from the ground, although there were no reports of arrests.
With even rank-and-file supporters now urging the board of directors to finally make a change, however, Lennon 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.
‘We thought we had the atmosphere right. They are just playing within themselves a little bit. I don’t know why because there is nobody here. There is no reason to get antsy or tentative.
‘ We want the players to be positive. But there is something missing, that little break or bit of magic. We are just not playing with that real drive and oomph.
With no obvious, viable alternative to take over, Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell last week appealed to supporters to unite behind the team amidst hopes that a favourable run of home games against St Johnstone, Kilmarnock and Ross County might turn things around.
‘We had some good chances but we need one of them to go in,’ said Lennon. ‘Odsonne (Edouard) was in, (Christopher) Jullien had a header, but we are not creating enough chances. It is all a bit pedestrian for my liking.
‘There is a lack of verve. We need more personality, more excitement in our play. Maybe s o meti mes you get that generated by the atmosphere, but we don’t have that just now.
‘ They’ve got that i n them. Look at the start they made on Thursday in Milan. But at the minute they are not playing anywhere near as well as they can.
‘It is hugely concerning and I am not going to shy away from that. It is hugely concerning that we can’t keep a clean sheet, when we looked very comfortable in the game. We let people run in behind us and it’s not good enough.
‘And it’s not good enough in the final third. We are taking far too long to work defences. It is not like us at all. I don’t want to be critical of the players but we are missing that spark, that fluency.
‘They have a lack of confidence in themselves and in each other. So they have to get that back.
‘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 season goes, we are making it very, very difficult for ourselves to get back into it.’