Lennon needs normal service to resume in The Last Chance Saloon
If Celtic lose to Dons, fans will wake up to threat to The Ten
Rangers have a better team than Celtic in every department on the pitch.
It’s a major problem if you have to finish above them in order to win 10-in-a-row.
Unless Neil Lennon’s side can beat Aberdeen at Pittodrie today, tens of thousands of Celtic supporters wi l l voluntarily self- isolate until next May.
The pubs may be shut by order of the government but The Last Chance Saloon is open in the Grampian region and a virtual crowd of television watchers will hound the manager if his team is disorderly.
Lennon will go from revered to reviled if Celtic lose.
His detractors will say he takes the big bucks so must cope with the hassle that goes with it. It is the life he chose.
I didn’t make this world. I just live in it. And so does Neil.
Celtic fans have two settings following the league defeat from Rangers. One is mild apoplexy, the other is severe apoplexy.
They are the people who had to be sent home from work suffering from trauma on the day Brendan Rodgers suddenly upped and left for Leicester City.
And now they can’t bear the thought of going to work tomorrow morning if they are to be goaded by those telling them The Ten is in jeopardy.
To go from October to May while nursing the thought you’re not going to get the one thing in life you crave more than anything else is too much to contemplate.
So if the Hoops get done over by the Dons, Lennon will be hounded by those who have finally been obliged to wake up to the potential danger in their midst.
When Celtic went out of the Champions League qualifiers at home to Ferencvaros, after a night of calamitous defending, I said at that point their season had “bad end” written all over it.
Af ter the return from a narrow win in Latvia in the Europa League qualifiers, I said Celtic had avoided Riga-mortis (below) but: “The pulse is weak and the patient is sti l l in intensive care.”
The reaction was predictably hostile but at Pittodrie there will be a check to see if there is any pulse at all or if some form of resuscitation isis now necessary.
Crisis point comeses with instantly recognisable signals.
You get internal strifefe such as the suspicionn that an informantt leaked your team onn the night before youu played Rangers.
You get dogged byy ill- luck from Covidd complications that were unheard off before. You get big- name, big-money signings not doing what it said on the tin at the time of purchase.
And you get the manager using the word “outstanding” to describe elements of a European defeat to AC Milan. That’s the traditional exercise in saying black is white often used by men under pressure. Te ams f rom SScot land lolosing to a team unundefeated at tthe top of SerSerie A isn’t a pproblem. TThat can haphappen at any time. Since sucsucceeding
Rodgers, Lennon has won every domestic competition for Celtic. You literally can’t do any better.
But it’s not The Ten therefore that’s not good enough.
Even if he beats Aberdeen next weekend in the Scottish Cup semi-final and wins the trophy by beating Hearts or Hibs in December to complete a barely- credible quadruple Treble it won’t be good enough – because it’s not Ten in a Row. It is the life he chose.
Neil and I have been round the block several times – rows, bans, the whole enchilada.
But it gives me no pleasure to say his demeanour now is that of a man carrying a burden of responsibility and unsure if he has the quality of player who can help him with the heavy lifting.
And yet sympathy for
Lennon’s predicament will be in short supply unless Celtic win this afternoon.
Disillusionment is more painful than disappointment for most supporters.
Rodgers left and was never to be spoken of again for the crime of forsak ing Ten in a Row.
Lennon was left holding the baby and he has so far shown exceptional parenting skills in that regard.
The difficulty is Rangers have, slowly but surely, got better on his watch on the back of better player recruitment.
Neil has tried to def lect attention from that one by talking up those who source players for Celtic. But the evidence of their own eyes tells supporters that’s not accurate. Some suspect Steven Gerrard has Lennon’s number, tactically speaking. If Derek McInnes has it as well then matters could take an ugly turn.
The Dons boss has taken so many sore ones from Celtic he must have the scar tissue to prove it.
But where Ce l t i c a re concerned it is now less about past glories than present dilemmas. McInnes once rejected the Ibrox job, prompting a furious response from his would-be employers. He could now complicate the Celtic job unless normal service is resumed for the defending champions today.
It is the life they chose.
Celtic avoided Riga-mortis in Latvia, but the pulse is weak & Lennon’s got 3 weeks to sort it Neil is facing defining make spell that could or break his 10-in-a-row quest ding succee
Since Lennon has rs,
Rodge domes tic every won but it’s tition – compe not Ten so not The enough good