NO NEED TO PANIC
Dalglish insists Celtic will stand by Lennon amid fury from fans
IN a season where history hangs oppressively in the air, the first sign of vulnerability was always going to bring about a cloudburst of angst and opprobrium.
Leaving Aberdeen on Sunday after watching his side l ose further ground in the title race, no amount of mitigation could fully shelter Neil Lennon from the gathering storm.
Following on from meek losses to Rangers and AC Milan, an error- strewn 3-3 draw with the Dons l eft the champions six points adrift of the Ibrox side and did nothing to ease the pressure on the Celtic manager. Remarkably, there are those who would already hang him out to dry.
Kenny Dalglish knows a perfect storm when he sees one. The kind of circumstances which leave managers clinging on to their jobs for dear life.
Yet, while the Parkhead legend would never try and dress up the past 11 days as anything other than bleak for his former club, he is convinced that those in power at Celtic retain absolute trust in Lennon.
‘It’s not a happy state of affairs if Celtic have bad results in a row and that’s what they’ve done with the Old Firm, AC Milan and a draw against Aberdeen,’ said Dalglish.
‘But I would think that the previous record Lenny has buys him a great deal of credit in that respect.
‘He has a 77-per- cent win rate in this period since he came back and had a fantastic record over the four years when he was here before.
‘So it might be a crisis for some people but I don’t t hink f or t he football club — although t here wil l be huge disappointment t hat they haven’t won the games or done better in them.
‘The respect he has for the f ootball club i s matched by the respect they have for him. So I don’t see any reason for the football club to act as badly as some people would suggest.’
As a manager over two spells, Lennon has won five titles, three Scottish Cups and a League Cup.
With the club just three points behind Rangers if they win their game in hand and potentially 180 minutes away from completing an unprecedented quadruple Treble,
Dalglish has no doubts that Lennon will be given time to turn the situation around.
‘I don’t think it’s in dispute,’ he stated. ‘He’ll get a chance. It’s not going to be taken away from him.
‘Last year at the winter break, Rangers were top of the league and Lenny went on and won the league, won the Betfred Cup, and the third trophy from last year is what they’re playing for on Sunday.
‘You’ve just got to work with what you’ve got. The sooner the players come back, the better the chance they’ll have of getting positive results. But there will be no panic at the f ootball club. That’s a guarantee. ‘In this day and age, with social media, if you want an answer to a question, you look at your phone.
‘ Success doesn’t come that quickly. It takes a long time to get success in football and it’s harder to maintain success.
‘For me, there will be concern. But there’s concern when you lose the toss of the coin at Celtic.
‘That’s the level they play at and that’s what they are up against. But I don’t think that concern will lead to any drastic measures. Lenny will be there for a long time.’
Lennon can do nothing about losing four players as a result of Covid-19. Similarly, when James Forrest and Christopher Jullien pull up injured, there is no magic wand to reach for.
What’s harder to explain away is a £5million keeper in Vasilis Barkas looking distinctly underwhelming. And when Shane Duffy makes a clanger in every big game, the finger-pointing becomes all the more aggressive.
The on-loan Brighton defender hasn’t been able to do right for doing wrong since playing Connor Goldson onside at Celtic Park.
Suspect at Milan’s first and third goals, his indecision at Pittodrie gifted the home side a way back into the game. For many Celtic fans, the player has exposed himself as a liability. One that should be dropped for his own good.
‘ Even if t he manager did consider taking him out of the firing line, who is he going to put in?’ said Dalglish.
‘Everybody thought he was a world-beater in his first game when he scored at Ross County with a header and he is a great asset at set-plays.
‘Maybe his form hasn’t been as good as what some people would have expected, but then again, maybe the Scottish Premiership is a bit better than what everybody has judged it to be.’
As at McDiarmid Park a few weeks back, Scott Brown began Sunday’s match stationed on the bench.
Given how unthinkable that situation has been up until this point, it’s been interpreted as anything from a player being
eased i nto retirement to a manager suddenly losing faith in his captain. Dalglish offers a more prosaic assessment.
‘Maybe Lenny j ust thought three games in a week was too much for him,’ he said. ‘He came off against AC Milan but I don’t think Lenny would ever, ever underestimate the importance of Scott Brown to Celtic.’
In Glasgow, everything is always relative. Which means that the odd stumble, even the occasional Old Firm defeat, isn’t viewed as the end of civilisation provided the side on the other half of the city also has its troubles to seek.
Lennon’s current problems have been magnified through Rangers’ commendable start to the campaign.
Unbeaten in 12 league games and safely into a third Europa League group stage, Steven Gerrard’s men are presently in a very good place.
‘At the end of the day, Rangers have improved,’ said Dalglish.
‘Steven has done a fantastic job there. Since he has gone in, they’ve got better and better every year.
‘One year he’s going to go the whole hog and win something. For me, i t was an i nspired appointment.’
Kenny Dalglish was speaking to promote Premier Sports coverage of the Scottish Cup semi-final match Celtic v Aberdeen live and exclusive from 2pm on Sunday. Premier Sports is available on Sky, Virgin TV and the Premier Player. Prices start from £9.99 per month.