Neil Lennon

Yep. Thought it was a good press conference.

I understand why he has been more calm and assured since coming back. However as with players, when you take away the fire in their bellies that they are known for they lose that something that makes them stand out.

Give me confrontational Lenny all day every day.

 

Incredible stuff. Impossible to have a rational conversation with someone who lets their mind jump to this kind of conclusion.

 

It shouldn't be a binary option between 'dain his nut' Lenny and the placid, arms folded Lenny we're seeing now.

There are ways to voice your displeasure at players failing to carry out instructions without it resorting to full-blown anger.

While he sits in the dug out he has a full view of the game that the individual players don't and he should be using that to point out in-game commands that they may be missing.

Managers like Simeone are never away from the touchline, barking orders, motivating, making tactical tweaks during breaks of play.

That's what we want to see, particularly when performances are flat. If you're watching an underwhelming performance and a break in play comes up and the manager doesn't use it to communicate something then it begs the question, why not? That doesn't come across as a calmer more reflective manager but one that either doesn't acknowledge our issues or does acknowledge them but doesn't have the solution; neither of which reflect well on him.

I always remember watching Guardiola talking 1-on-1 with Sterling just after they had pumped Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup Final and Sterling had bagged a double. All the players were celebrating in the background with the trophy and Pep was talking to him about situations in the game and talking tactics.

Some may think that's overkill but in the pursuit of constant improvement, that sort of input is exactly what we need from our touchline manager.

Ignoring 90 mins of sub-par play against St Johnstone just because Griff & Paddy bail you out at the death does nothing to improve things going forward. Good coaching acknowledges and appraises both the positives and negatives; our performances don't suggest Lennon is doing the latter.

 

The only ones waiting to go “I told you so” are the ones backing Lennon because they’re now too afraid to criticise him, so it’s all they have. They are the ones who can’t wait to one up the rest of the fan base. They care about that more than club success, they are just lucky the two come together.

The ones criticising Lennon want to the very best for the club. It’s not an agenda against Lennon, it’s just a worry that we are going in the wrong direction and Lennon plays a bog part in that. His history with us isn’t relevant when we talk about the current situation. This is what people need to realise.

 

I'd have a cup of tea and rethink what you have posted here as its simply bullshit RR mate.

 

Lack of unity only plays into the scums hands tho..

We need to play our part as much as we can and not help fuel the hysteria..

And Lenny needs to play his part by creating momentum in results and performance that we can rally behind.

 

Like every other Celtic fan I just want what's best for the club and, sadly, I don't think Neil is what's best for the club right now. Our performances have been very poor this season - not just last week, and I hope that our support don't turn their admiration for a Celtic hero to hate as he really doesn't deserve that for what he has did and what he has had to put up with as a player and manager of our club.

 

This. The huns - media, players, fans, all of them will he loving the unrest at us just now.

 

We all want Lenny to succeed and get the ten but the performances since the start of the season has been alarming and hoping once the players that are missing coming back that results improve and give Lenny more time with the supporters .
The only thing we are not sure about is there behind the scene issues between the manager and the players and can it be sorted and if not then the manager needs to go that's where we are if results don't improve .

 

What really does my * in is when people say we have been spoiled because we have won this and that and should just be grateful however, it's not about that. It's about realising that our club is at a crossroads just now and that we, as fans who pump our hard earned cash into the club, have a right to worry about the current malaise affecting the club. If that means criticising the manager, the board or the players then so be it (as long as it's not ott) but we can't stay silent and not be concerned as to what's happening to the club we love so much.

 

I am not saying that we should necessarily poach managers from those clubs (although that may be possible if we approach them early enough, and make an attractive offer); I am saying that we should adopt a recruitment strategy that is similar to theirs.

We should be looking for up-and-coming coaches at all levels: Rose had only managed Lokomotive Leipzig before Red Bull Salzburg brought him in as a youth coach. They are clearly identifying coaching talent at an early stage because Rose had no previous connection to the club.

By contrast, almost all of our coaches are former players - or, in Strachan's case, the son of a former manager.

Those clubs will still make the wrong appointment at times, but they have a pool of coaching talent in house, and on their radar, ready to step up.

I am almost certain that we have no competent coaches under Lennon at present, besides our goalkeeping coach, and little knowledge, if any, of promising coaches across the continent. It is an old pals' act.

 

Zurich, red bull and basel, we would be a side step at best for these managers

 

Do we know he isn’t out from time to time barking instructions though?

We can only go in what the telly is showing us at the moment.

 

Honestly think the hun SMSM has won. Divide and conquer is in full swing

 

True we're not seeing everything but the Killie game at 1-1 and the team playing terribly with 1 man upfront, the camera cuts to Lennon and Kennedy and they're both sat their arms folded. No tactical changes being made.

For me that sends out the wrong message. I don't think you need to be a Di Canio and going mental on the touchline but I think there's a balance to be found.

That on top of the same underperforming players being picked, the same tactics being employed after poor performances and the comments in the press about supporters over-reacting suggests he doesn't see the issues that we see.

I was on record for months saying that we were far too open in the 3-5-2 and we would get done when we came up against better opposition if we stuck with it. Up against the huns we get done comfortably from slackness and then again by AC Milan.

If a clown with no tactical knowledge like me can see that and foresee future danger then it's mind-blowing that professional, experienced coaches can't.

 

I don’t disagree mate. Just that we are only seeing what broadcasters want us to see these days.

Even when the camera shows the manager sitting with his arms folded doesn’t mean Strachan or Kennedy aren’t out doing his bidding.

I would much rather see Lenny out there though firing a rocket up their arses. For me it’s his greatest strength.

 

I sit 14 rows behind the dugouts and can count on 1 hand the amount of times I've seen Kennedy out on the touchline giving commands over the 7 seasons he's been involved.

Lennon was sitting back a lot more at the tail end of last season but then again we were ragdolling teams so there wasn't any need for him to be out and barking orders. The team were obviously carrying out instructions and to great effect.

That's not happening now though, so while he might be out there at times and we're not seeing it, it seems too coincidental that every time the camera pans he's sat down.

Si Ferry has said on Open Goal that Di Canio used to whistle him over and say "you've got 10 mins to do something or you're coming off" and make it clear that he wasn't satisfied with his efforts. I wish Lennon would do similar with some in our squad.

We have a big squad, we have 5 subs to make, that sort of action would send out a message to an Ntcham, Édouard, etc. that we won't accept you giving any less than your best, if you don't then someone will come on for you.

 

Absolutely Kennedy doesn't move from a sitting position. I sit North stand lower and have rarely seen him up off his *

 

NL: The spirits are good. We had a short flight and now looking forward to the game.”


NL: “Elhamed has stayed in Glasgow, Bitton and Edouard have travelled. They’re up to speed to play a part in the game but whether we start them or not that’ll be something we’ll have to assess.”


NL on Barkas: “He’s travelled but he has an ongoing shoulder issue, it’s nothing too strenuous.”

NL: “I think the group is still open. We need to get something positive from the game to get a foothold on the group and that’s what we’ll try and do.”

NL: “We would like to win the game or get something out of the game and that’s been our whole focus over the last two days.”


NL on
@LOSC_EN
: “They rotate their squad a little bit. They’ve made a great start to the season and it doesn’t surprise me with the quality and strength and depth they have.”

NL: “I think it’s a great group, great test and I thought there was a lot of encouragement in the second half against Milan when we took the game to them and I’m looking for more of the same tomorrow.”

NL: “I did a club visit to
@LOSC_EN
years ago when they won the league. I know a lot about the club, culture and what they do at an academy level. I’m not surprised to be seeing them doing so well.”

NL: “We are very tight and the unity’s good in the team. The atmosphere’s pleased me. They seem to be in a pretty confident mood which is great. We are excited and don’t want to get too far away in the group.”

NL: “The team’s ready and we’ve prepared them as best as we can, we are looking forward to the game. If we get a positive result it’ll be great. I’m looking for a real good team performance.”