One more slip- up and Celtic will have no choice but to axe Lennon
One more wrong turning and it is impossible to see how this car- crash of a season for the Scottish champions would not claim Neil Lennon as its biggest victim.
A dwi n d l i ng number o f us have petitioned of late - entirely reasonably, and fairly, I would still argue - that a man who has given so much to the club over two decades, played a central role in 19 honours coming Celtic’s way, and been so consistently successful at banking trophies across his second 21- month spell, deser ved t i me t o haul t he club out of a disastrous form slump.
That has been the thinking of the Celtic board. Yet, patience as a footballing commodity must always be wedded both to results and a sense of what all the evidence points to as regards where a manager’s tenure is headed. Frankly, it appears Lennon has driven himself into a cul- de- sac at high speed.
The spectacular misfiring, laid bare yet again with the 4- 1 filleting away to Sparta Prague, did not merely ensure that the club’s Europa League group qualification bid never even made it to the runway. It suggested that the product of a brutal state of affairs and a jaw- dropping defensive brittleness is assuming a certain permanence. As a consequence, it now seems impossible to believe Lennon is capable of the turnaround he keeps bravely putting on a front in interviews to maintain con
fidently remains fully within his gift.
All Celtic managers have found themselves in the deepest trouble when enduring a run similar to the past seven- week derailment that has left Celtic with only two wins from nine games. Indeed, even the ill- fitting Ronny Deila and Tony Mowbray never had such a torturous spell. As with Gordon Strachan, all claimed only three victories in nine- game sequences. These desperate dips sparked demands f or
their removals. Lennon’s team have lost their way so completely, the questions over him can no longer be attributed to Celtic supporters’ frenzy over an historic ten- in- a- row.
Not since Josef Venglos in season 1998/ 99 has a Celtic manager found wins as difficult to come by in nine games. However, during the Czech coach’s t wo i n nine he still succeeded in registering a fine European away success and a draw in the derby. Moreover, Celtic then did not look like
a team that, at the very least, could lose a couple of goals each time they step on to the pitch. The 21 goals conceded by Lennon’s men in their past nine outings has no modern parallel.
The 49- year- old Northern I rishman has deployed no fewer than 11 different players t o f i nd t he answers t o what appear systemic issues. Each and every one deployed has been dragged down to the horrifically sub- standard level Celtic are betraying as a defensive unit. Yet, bizarrely, nothing has yet been lost domestically for the club. They could still seal a quintet treble. Only i f t hey win j ust about eve - r y domestic game ahead of them in the season, though. And even simply failing to succeed in one of the 34 fixtures required for that – starting with Sunday’s League Cup tie at home to Ross County – would surely leave the Celtic board with no option but to give up on Lennon before their fanbase give up on them.