EASTER RAISING
Winning trophy at Hibs was Neil’s dream at start of the campaign and amazingly it may yet come to pass..
NEIL LENNON sets his targets pretty high but a title party at Easter Road was way beyond his wildest dreams when the campaign kicked off last August.
He was in the Hibs dugout at the time, mind you.
Now Lennon has the chance to go back to his former club and wrap up the league title with Celtic.
Even the man in the thick of the bizarre turn of events is struggling to get his head around it all.
Celtic are so close it doesn’t take a mathematician to work out what’s needed. Rangers stumble at Tynecastle today and the Hoops can stick the green and white ribbons on the trophy tomorrow lunchtime with a victory across the capital in Leith.
Lennon said: “It would be weird. If you said to me at the start of the season I’ll win the league at Easter Road I’d have thought, ‘F*** me, we’re having some season’.
“But Rangers could win at Tynecastle and all that goes out the window. All we’re thinking about is winning two games.”
If there is any tension at the sight of the finishing line then Lennon has a funny way of showing it.
The Celtic stand-in boss cut a relaxed figure at Lennoxtown yesterday but perhaps it was understandable.
He’s been back in the building for a couple of months now and he’s seen just how this Hoops side operate when the finishing line is in sight.
“Hibs won’t just let us walk in there and go away with three points so we’ll have to be bang at it again. Psychologically, though, last Sunday was big for our players and it’s been a good week. We’re now looking forward to what should be a cracking game of football.” Shockwaves from the
Brendan Rodgers bunk have been replaced by calm.
Noises from the camp have been overwhelmingly positive to the new coaching staff, with Jozo Simunovic – an outcast at times under Rodgers – gushing in his praise of Lennon. He isn’t alone but Lennon said: “They just want picked!
“Sometimes players can feel the season is getting away from them. Then they can get a little bit of a lift.”
Lennon admitted he’s been amazed at the squad’s relentless nature, especially when dealing with a gruelling fixture calender. He doesn’t know if he’ll be in charge beyond the summer but he’s the one doing the planning.
Several of his players are looking at barely a week off after the Scotland Euro double-header in June and then it’s into preparations for the European qualifiers. Lennon reckons it’s a far cry from his Hoops playing days under Martin O’neill.
He said: “Players are going to suffer eventually and I’ve seen that already here. It’s like 12 months of the year, when do you give them a rest?
“Martin was huge on that. Some days you’d be in on a Saturday and he’d say,
‘I’ll see you on Wednesday or Thursday’. You wouldn’t see him until the following Saturday right enough!
“At the minute these boys don’t have the opportunity to do that. Yet they’ve maintained their standards all this time and that’s been amazing. It’s a big ask at times and it’s unfair on the Scottish teams. So a revamp would be welcome in certain aspects.”
But the planning can wait. This weekend could be all about the party.