Lennon blasts critics
Neil Lennon says he “abso - lutely” retains the full backing of the Celtic board in hitting out the “hysteria” that has ensued following three games without a win for the Scottish champions.
The 49-year-old maintains he has been through“a lot worse – a lot worse – as player and manager” than going into tomorrow’ s exacting Europa League encounter in Lille on the back of 3-3 draw in Aberdeen that was preceded by defeats to Rangers and AC Milan.
The form slump – “we are entitled to a tough week now and then,” said Lennon – has prompted a blizzard of conjecture over his job. However, he maintains there will be no cold shouldering of him from the club’s powerbrokers.
“I speak to Peter [Lawwell, Celtic chief executive] ever y day,” he said “We had a board meeting on Friday and that went pretty smoothly. I’m not out here on my own.
"I have got great support from Peter and the board, I have got great support from my backroom team who are really strong at the minute. That shows the inner strength we have here at the club.
“We are very, very tight. The players are in a good place. I do think they are getting scrutinised to the nth degree.
"Some of the individual criticism is unpalatable, but it’s my job to protect them from that and show trust in them. And I do trust them. They are a brilliant bunch. They have proved themselves time and time again. We are only in October. We have got a lot of work to do, but that is no different to any other season.”
Lennon dismisses as “nonsense” the “over the top” reaction to recent results, calling two newspaper polls asking whether he should be sacked “completely disrespectful” to him.
“Where did that come from? I haven’t seen that in 20 years. All of a sudden there is this grounds well after a tough week. When we went into the international break we had won eight games in a row and kept four clean sheets.
"What happened afterwards was the squad was disrupted and a little bit disjointed and we were playing good teams.
"But I have seen an improvement in their performances as we have gone along. Players are coming back, players are getting fitter. We have got a lot to look forward to.
"This knee jerk reaction stuff ? You need to get used to it. But it is well over the top and some of our ex-players haven’t covered themselves in glory either.”
Lennon says he prefers to focus on recent positive sin confirming Odsonne Edouard and Nir Bitton have returned to training following their recovery from C ovid -19. It is hoped both will travel to France, though, he seemed to suggest tomorrow be too early for them to start.
Meanwhile, Celtic will have the prognosis on James Forrest’ s ankle problem in the coming days after the winger visited a specialist as a result of the injury not healing as expected.
There is no timescale on a possible return for Chris topher Jullien either, with the defender scheduled to undergo another week of intensive treatment in Germany on a back complaint.
Any schoolchild will think they know the answer to 11 times 11. In Celtic’s world, though, the rejoinder isn’t a digit, but grave concerns over the pursuit of another number: the 10-in-arow.
Incredibly, Neil Lennon hasn’t just fielded different starting XIS in all of the club’s 11 Premiership games this season. Each and every one of those line-ups has added up to an XI that have never played together before, or since, in the top flight. Between integrating new signings, giving players minutes to build up their fitness or reintroduce them following injury lay-offs, and rejigging to compensate for the Covid-19 loss of others, Celtic seem trapped in a loop that has the feel of a perpetual pre-season. Except, of course, they are in the midst of an al mighty titles crap with Rangers whose contra sting team stability has allowed them to steal a march on their continuity-denuded rivals.
The squad turnover in the Scottish champions league starting XIS seems inconceivable. Yet less so when it is considered that Lennon has already given starts to no fewer than 22 players with the campaign not even three months old.
He hasn’ t thrown players at the team as a consequence of some wilful perversion, though. In the main, it has been forced on him by circumstances entirely beyond his control. Yes, he could have opted not to introduce Premiership starter no.22, in the form of Tom Rogic, for Sunday’s trip to Aberdeen. However, the Australian’s contribution to the 3-3 draw – he provided two goal assists with deft, defence-splitting passes – made him arguably the visitors’ most effective performer in his first start in sevenand-a-half months.
It isn’t Lennon’s fault that Rogic sustained an ankle injury in pre-season that means it is only now the 27-yearold possesses the physical conditioning to challenge for starting berth.
For various reasons, this pattern is repeated throughout the squad. Essentially, the club’s transfer activity in 2020 – Vasilis Barkas, Albian Ajeti, Shane Duffy, David Turnbull and Diego Laxalt recruited during the summer, with Patryk Klimala signed only seven weeks before the Covid-19 lockdown in March – means he has half-adozen players that require bedded-in to the team.
Moreover, Lennon isn’t to blame for the Covid-19 positive tests that have left him without Odsonne Edouard, Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed for a week of winless woe courtesy of the losses to Rangers and AC Milan that were compounded by the concession of a 92nd minute equaliser at Pittodrie.
Likewise, it is not the fault of the Celtic manager that he has lost James Forrest and Christopher Jullien to longterm ailments, and has required to take a softly, softly approach in building up the fitness of Ajeti and Leigh Griffiths following hamstring and ankle injuries respectively. Remarkably, the 30-year-old Scotland striker remains to be added to the shedload of players to have earned Premiership starts for the club this season. Similarly, with Mikey Johnston, back in full training having been out since January with knee and calf problems that required surgery.
The chilling fact for Lennon is that a settled starting line-up is absolutely nowhere on the horizon. For, as well as integrati on, injur y a nd illness, another element dictates selection choices: inabilit y of players to perform to the required level. On that front, step for ward a certain Shane Duffy.
The Republic of Ireland captain has started ever y one of the nine games that Celtic have contested since he was attracted on loan from Brighton
10 weeks ago. The admirable honesty of the 28-year-old extended to an admission ahead of the Aberdeen encounter that he hadn’t performed to the required standard against Rangers and Milan... only for him to throw in another goal-costing clanger against Derek Mcinnes’ men.
If Lennon had Jullien, Bitton or even Elhamed at his disposal of late, it is surely the case that he would have taken Duffy out of the firing line – for the player’s own benefit, as much as Celtic’s prospects. With Bitton and Elhamed on the way back, it would seem highly likely that the Celtic manager will again rejig a defence that in which he has had no constants, although Ajer has only failed to start one league game. Meanwhile, Lennon’s bigging up of Bain in the injury absence of the, so far, deeply unimpressive Barkas, suggests that the Scotland international will retain his place in the short-term.
Then there is the search for the right blend in midfield – never mind the right shape ,3-5-2 appearing to have given way to the more orthodox 4-2-3-1 formation again – with Scott Brown starting on the bench against Aberdeen. In the central area, only Call um McGregor has been an ever-present. The tweaking to achieve the desired blend in this department remains firmly a work in progress.
All of this before considering what Lennon will do with for ward players such as Ajeti and Griffiths following an expected return for Edouard away to Lilie in the Europa League on Thursday. Especially if the club’s attacking fulcrum fails to find his groove, as was the case before he tested positive for Covid-19 three weeks ago.
Until Lennon has a full squad from which to choose – and there are no guarantees as to when that might be – he could be denied a go-to starting XI. It casts the club’s recent forays in the market in an unfavourable light that, as it stands, that it might not be possible for Lennon to field the most adept lineup – if spared any enforced absentees – he could pick this side of Christmas.
If Lennon had Jullien, Bitton or even Elhamed at his disposal of late, it is surely the case that he would have taken Duffy out of the firing line. With Bitton and Elhamed on the way back, it would seem highly likely that the Celtic manager will again rejig his defence
Lennon has already given starts to no fewer than 22 players with the campaign not even three months old. Incredibly, Neil Lennon hasn’t just fielded different starting XIS in all of the club’s 11 Premiership games. Each and every one of those line-ups has added up to an XI that have never played together before, or since, in the top flight