Lenny salutes Special Ones
NEIL LENNON last night urged his Special Ones to sink Rangers again tomorrow – and cap another monumental year for Celtic.
The Parkhead club can open an eight-point lead at the top of the Premiership with a third Old Firm win of the campaign and also seal a sensational 10 months back in the hotseat for the Hoops boss.
Since Lennon’s return to replace Brendan Rodgers in February his
team have won an unprecedented treble Treble, topped a continental group for the first time on the way to the last 32 of the Europa League and also snared a fourth straight Betfred Cup triumph.
The manager reckons his troops do not get anything like the credit they deserve.
However, Lennon’s praise for the squad is undiluted and he said: “I’d like them to finish off what has been a great year for me personally, and the club, on a high.
“This group have improved. There’s no question of that. They have improved their performances, maturity, their dominance.
“It’s not an easy thing to do and they keep going and going.
“In the end people switch off to that because they just take it for granted.
“I can’t do that and I don’t think they are getting the credit they deserve this year. I don’t know why.
“Maybe it’s because I’m the manager, I don’t know.
“If someone else was the manager they might get all the glitz and glamour that goes with it but I think what they have done in the first half of the season has been getting underplayed.
“Not by me though. I’m absolutely thrilled and really proud of them.
“This is the 64th game of the year. The win ratio must be around the 70 or 80 per cent mark. It’s incredible.”
Asked if his troops were setting records that might never be broken Lennon added: “Well certainly in terms of trebles. I don’t think we’ll see that again.
“You never know in football but they are very special.
“And I think there are some very special individuals who bring out the best in the rest of the group.”
Celtic go into the Old Firm game on a run of domestic wins and are just one short of bagging a century of goals already this season.
Lennon said: “To score 99 goals by this stage is pretty impressive and I can’t ask any more than what I am getting from them at the moment.
“People still want to try to pick holes in that and I get it but you are never going to have the perfect team.
“If you did you would get bored as you’d be winning 5-0 every week.
“Their consistency, the style of football and fitness levels, all under intense scrutiny, makes me delighted.
“They have handled it all so well.”
Celts clinched the first league meeting between the pair 2-0 at Ibrox on September 1 when goals from Odsonne Edouard and Jonny Hayes won it.
Then Christopher Jullien won the Betfred Cup Final 1-0 for Lennon’s 10-man team at Hampden earlier this month.
Lennon believes sealing victory over Steven Gerrard’s title challengers could strike a big psychological blow in the flag race.
But he is staying calm before the storm and said: “The other side is if you lose it, you have a long time to think about it.
“We have to strike a balance and not get too carried away.
“We know Rangers are in good form so it’s a game to really whet the appetite for the players.
“What they need now is recovery time and to try and get them as fresh as possible but I think if we get anywhere near our levels it’s going to take a very good team to beat us.”