Gary Keown
Europe the real proving ground
Continental strides now key for Lennon
TEN IN A ROW is the easy bit. It is in Europe next season where Neil Lennon must prove beyond question that he can take Celtic forward as a club. Europe, rather than the rickety outbuilding of the SPFL, is the stage upon which the true health and ambition of the Parkhead outfit should be measured.
Europe is an evolving political battleground in which Celtic have to become more prominent and provide concrete evidence they can still be looked upon as a top-end club.
And Europe is where Lennon must show he really has become a better, more nuanced coach — a bona-fide, long-term solution — in his second spell in charge rather than just a safe pair of hands worth bringing back to make sure ‘The 10’ doesn’t slip through the fingers.
That Lennon is a good domestic manager for Celtic is clear. All those years on the playing staff and in the dugout bring a level of experience in these very particular surroundings that cannot be bought.
He knows the drill, has as good a grip as anyone on the unique pressures and, on the basis of the 17 months that have passed since he returned to repair the cavernous hole left by Brendan Rodgers’ ravenous ego, appears in much greater control of his emotions.
Meanwhile, the fanbase — sceptical, to say the least, when he was reappointed following a murky end to his stint at Hibernian — are much more relaxed about him being in charge.
Across Glasgow, lockdown has taken the focus off the fact that Rangers’ current manager Steven Gerrard had become unable to outfox even the worst of the teams in the bottom half of the Premiership before the coronavirus kicked in.
It also seems to have transported supporters back to the twilight world of January — where Ianis Hagi, a player with no real pedigree at all, was being touted as the best thing since, erm, Ryan Kent and a stick-on for a future €100million move.
That Genk, as it turned out, were delighted to waive their previouslyagreed fee and get him off the books for a little over €3m just a year after paying €8m and giving him a five-year contract has done little to change that narrative.
Even if he does turn out to be a player, it is impossible to see how Rangers go from where they were around the time of those atrocious defeats to Hearts and Hamilton in February and March to being ready to win a title. Celtic surely must lift their 10th straight crown. There is no other option. Naturally, we will all be expected to reel in amazement when they achieve it, the way you might when witnessing the Aurora Borealis for the first time or discovering that horses can’t eat chocolate.
That’s what you are meant to do when history happens on your doorstep. However, Celtic have been running a £50m-plus wage bill for several years now.
Winning the league is the least they should be achieving when you consider how difficult Rangers have found it to get their act together since returning to the Premiership four years ago and how skint everyone else is.
Those financial figures of theirs must deliver more. They have to bring results on a greater stage.
And for some time now, that has not been happening. Two wins over Lazio in last term’s group stage of the Europa League were special achievements. Victory over Rennes was a big deal, too.
Yet, at the end of it all, Celtic still went out of the Europa League in the last 32 after failing to make it into the Champions League. And that’s not even shooting par.
As we all know, ways of reshaping cross-continental football are a big topic of discussion. Celtic, as with Rangers, don’t want to be frozen out of that. However, proving you can generate enough money to be part of a new elite, if that’s the way football is to go, has to exist hand in hand with keeping your profile up on the pitch.
Celtic haven’t won a knockout tie in Europe for almost 17 years. They have missed out on the Champions League for two straight seasons and, when you consider the money on offer from simply being part of it, a third campaign on the outside looking in is unthinkable.
Callum McGregor spoke in midweek of the need to return there. He also trotted out that old red herring about ‘how difficult it is to get there with the four qualifying rounds’. It is oft-repeated nonsense. As long as the special Champions Route exists, Celtic should almost always get there given the money spent on players.
Concentrating that budget into a leaner squad of higher-quality individuals is something Lennon and head of football operations Nick Hammond also need to be capable of pulling off, too. Celtic’s oversized first-team pool has been bloated with mediocrity for too long. They need to streamline their operation, with keen eyes likely to be trained on January signings Patryk Klimala and Ismaila Soro, bought for a combined £5.5m, along with any fresh arrivals from the moment the action recommences.
And if anyone has ghosts to exorcise from last year’s 4-3 loss to Cluj at home in the Champions League qualifiers, when £7m Christopher Jullien was left on the bench, it is Lennon.
He will remember how the criticism stung. He will recall the anger over McGregor being played at left-back ahead of Boli Bolingoli, a £3m flop. He will also know that it won’t take much for fans to forget the championship parties still going on over Zoom if he gets it wrong again.
Cluj possess a fraction of Celtic’s resources. Likewise, FC Copenhagen, who knocked the Scottish champions out of the Europa League by winning 3-1 in Glasgow, were understood to have lower salary costs. No matter what else went on last season, these were serious low points that should not have happened.
In the week in which he was named Manager of the Year, this all sounds pretty harsh on Lennon. In truth, it harsh. But Lennon exists in a harsh environment in which there are massive amounts of money on the line.
The Northern Irishman always was a sound choice as the manager to get Celtic to 10 in a row. It’s now down to him to make it clear he can take the club further when that landmark, the ultimate in domestic bragging rights, has been secured.