BOLDER & WISER
Lennon is braver than Rodgers, claims McGregor
He is talking all the time about how we must have a threat in Europe
INVINCIBLE in Scotland but inflexible and overly-idealistic in Europe. Under Brendan Rodgers, the expansive style of football that saw Celtic dominate domestically on the road towards an unprecedented treble Treble also proved their Achilles heel on humiliating nights in places like Paris, Barcelona and Munich.
But the passing of the baton back to the returning Neil Lennon when Rodgers quit Parkhead for Leicester City in February was meant to usher in a more sensible era of pragmatism on the continent.
Lennon is certainly proving more varied in his tactical approach to European matches, as witnessed by deploying a 3-5-2 formation as Celtic beat Lazio 2-1 earlier this month on an historic night in Rome.
During his first spell in charge, the Northern Irishman famously steered Celtic to a 2-1 home victory over Lionel Messi’s Barcelona in 2012 en route to reaching the last 16 of the Champions League.
Even this early in his second spell, results so far suggest the former Hibs boss is more at home in the European arena than Rodgers ever was during his time in charge at Parkhead.
But midfielder Callum McGregor believes it does not necessarily follow that Lennon’s team is less adventurous in attack than the sides put out by his much-lauded predecessor.
Instead, he feels fortune has favoured the brave during this Europa League Group E campaign.
‘Is Neil Lennon bolder than Brendan Rodgers? He could be,’ said McGregor ahead of Celtic’s meeting with French side Rennes tomorrow night at Parkhead.
‘You see with the results. We went to Italy to face Lazio and I think people hoped rather than expected we would get a result out there, but when you deliver a score like that, then it changes everyone’s mindset.
‘We know the European games are different because you have slightly less of the ball than you are used to domestically. But the manager is brilliant. You hear him talking all the time about how we must still always have a threat in Europe — that we have to try and score.
‘You can defend without the ball but you still have to have an avenue to score a goal. Once you score a goal in Europe, it changes the whole dynamic of the game.
‘Especially away from home. When you score it puts you in a really good position to win the match. I just think the manager seems to be really clued up on that side of European football. I think he builds similar teams when he is at the helm. There is always pace on the counter-attack, there is always a good mindset in the middle where you are not giving away too many balls. And then, when you are going forward, we
have players who can really hurt teams like James Forrest, Ryan Christie, Tom Rogic, Olivier Ntcham, Odsonne Edouard.’ While Celtic often fell to pieces after conceding away from home under Rodgers, Lennon’s side showed their mettle by bouncing back from an early setback in the Eternal City. After Forrest had cancelled out an opener from Serie A’s top scorer Ciro Immobile, the stage was set for Ntcham to score a dramatic 95th-minute winner for the Scottish champions. That backbone was also evident in Glasgow as Celtic came from behind to beat Lazio 2-1 courtesy of a Christie leveller then a late Christopher Jullien header. The three points plundered in Rome came as Celtic won on Italian soil for the first-ever time in 13 attempts. It meant they qualified for the knockout stage of the competition with the luxury of having two matches to spare. Now McGregor (left) wants to write fresh history by helping Celtic finish top of a European group for the first time. That would happen with one game still to go if Lennon’s side can beat Rennes tomorrow night and Romanian champions Cluj lose against Lazio in Italy. Celtic have not gone further than the last 16 of a European tournament since reaching the quarter-finals of the old UEFA Cup in 2003-04.
But finishing on top of Europa League Group E should — in theory, at least — help secure a more negotiable route into the latter stages of the competition rather than facing the likes of Valencia, who dropped down from last season’s Champions League and eliminated Celtic 3-0 on aggregate in the last 32 back in February.
‘We have learned harsh lessons in the last couple of years,’ admitted McGregor. ‘We have managed to get through the group stage but we finished second and then we got a Champions League team.
‘That obviously makes it difficult in the last 32.
‘But if you try and qualify by finishing top of the group, then it’s that equal opponents thing.
‘Finishing top of the group is big for us. That’s where we want to be. We know we have to finish the job.
‘We have a big game coming up against Rennes on Thursday night and there are two games left now in total to make sure we do it.
‘Then, hopefully, we can get a good draw and we can just take it from there.’