Lennon is not prepared to shelve his Euro hopes for the sake of ninth title
Neil Lennon insists he will not sacrifice Celtic’s European ambitions in pursuit of nine-in-a-row.
With the Hoops facing a severe challenge from Rangers in the Premiership, there are elements of the support who believe their club’s Europa League schedule is a threat to their domestic dominance.
That is especially the case this week, when Lazio from Italy’s Serie A are the visitors to Celtic Park.
“I think most fans would say
Europe is not as important this season,” said Lennon.
“I think they would see the league as a priority, and I get that.
“While you’re in it, though, you’ve got to compete and do the club’s reputation well.
“I think it’s good for the players’ development as well.
“If I said to some players that I was going to leave them out against Lazio because we’ve got Aberdeen on the Sunday, I’d have a few expletives coming back at me.
“It’s very rare you get players saying to you that giving them a rest is OK.
“We’re only eight games into the season domestically.
“We’ve played a lot in Europe. But I think for Lazio at home, there will be plenty of players knocking on the door, wanting to be picked.”
Instead, the Irishman will look to continue with his triedand-trusted approach of going with players who are in form, regardless of the competition.
“Sometimes you have to look at the fatigue side of things and sometimes you go horses for courses,” said Lennon.
“For these European games, though, I think you put out what you perceive to be your strongest team.
“It’s worked so far. We’ll obviously look at Lazio and if we need to change it accordingly, we will. But I’ve been delighted with the two performances so far.
“And then, when players are playing so well, it’s hard to leave them out, because you know they are in a match rhythm and confident in themselves.
“We went from Stockholm to Rangers and made one change, Rennes to Kilmarnock we made one change.
“Plus, while things didn’t go for us at Livingston, off the back of a great display against Cluj, but there were other factors to consider.
“The red card for Ryan Christie was a big turning point, and it’s a difficult venue to go and win a game anyway.
“But from 1-0, I thought the attitude of the players was great and we were unlucky not to force a draw maybe at one stage. But the second goal knocked the stuffing out of us. It was a poor goal from our point ofview.”
The loss to the Lions in front of 8,196 at the Tony Macaroni Arena will, Lennon hopes, seem a long way away come Thursday and the visit of Lazio under the lights.
“This game could go either way, but I want us to go on the front foot and cause them problems.
“Lazio have a great striker in Ciro Immobile and he will be one that will need to be watched as he scored a good goal against Rennes in the last round of matches.
“They have got some quality players, but we do not fear them.
“We want another hightempo performance like the Cluj game in the Europa League.
“We didn’t do that in the Champions League clash and that gave oxygen to the opposition.
“We are up against a quality side. But we have to play our way.
“It was like that back in the day when the fans created these nights. We have a tradition in Europe and we want to extend that and protect it.”
Occasions which Lennon has had the privilege of experiencing as player, manager and unofficial supporter.
“As a player, the 4-3 game against Juventus in 2001 is right up there as a highlight,” he said.
“It was high-octane stuff, but at that level you rarely got a bad game at Celtic Park.
“We beat Lyon, the French champions, 2-0 a couple of years later and that was a great night, as was the win over Manchester United in 2006.
“And as a manager, beating Barcelona in 2012 – it does not get any better than that.
“We have a tradition in Europe, and we want to extend that and protect it.”