Neil Lennon - All Chat In Here

We dont even know if there was a shortlist. Can you honestly say that we tried for others. Better (or more proven) managers. I dont recall that we did. Lennon may also flop akin to TM and, lets be fair here, is more likely than bringing in someone with experience. Though I hope he doesn't obviously.

You think that we would bring in the likes of Bellamy etc? Do you think that they would sign for Lennon? I understand taking the money for McGeady in particular but to not reinvest it as promised is not good enough. We are massively in profit this window so far. You also say that we have brought in 10 and think there is more to come but then that we would rather spend the money wisely as opposed to squad players? Why not keep the heart of the team that won 8 in a row and add quality to it. Can you honestly say that we have brought in better than Boruc, McGeady, Keane and Kamara. Though I know the last 2 were loanees.

 

We dont know how many managers were interested in the job as it appears (from the public eye at least) that we did not try. It there's not much of a choice then it really shows the sad state of affairs we are in. I'm not suggesting that Mourinho should be on the list but surely we have enough about us to aim higher?


The transfer dealings have not all been undisclosed and monies that went towards wages etc would have been saved from those that went out. All our highest wage earners coinicidentally bar Hinkel who was told to find a new club before he got injured. I think it's more than fair to assume that we have made a lot of money this window, just like the last one.

As for the players turning us down, then maybe Lennon should have kept quiet about trying to sign them. It does not look good for the club when you are constantly being rebuffed publicly. Or was it a smoke screen of false ambition?

I'm not complaining about the clear out per sa, just who it is that we are shipping. All of our better players last year. Boruc, McGeady and Hinkel.


I'm also willing to give new players a chance but we already know that Mulgrew and Murphy eg are poor. You have to admit they were strange buys.


I should have said that I dont think that Lennon is in charge of players who are going out as opposed to overall. My bad. If he is in charge overall then we have to wonder why he see's fit to ship our best players.


Sorry but Europe has to be our main focus in the overall picture as that is the way we will generate income and be in a position to add quality. The SPL will take care of itself if we buy good players.


I know Scottish football has a fair bit to answer for regarding do-efficient.


Whether we like it or not we have to "care" what the huns do as they are our only serious threat to the riches of the CL. By default what they do is relevant, and vice versa. We have let them back from the brink by losing the league for the last 2 seasons. That, imo, is the boards fault for resting on their laurels in the Jan 09 window and appointing a clown the following season.

 

people are critical because no matter what they'll always be, especially to the new man. we could bring in hiddink and people would complain that he's not celtic minded enough. the only complaint i have is not enough being addressed at CB but otherwise i give lenny full passing marks and support him 100%

 

100% right mate

 

Well, I'm certainly not blaming Lennon for the * squad he was left with. I certainly am blaming the board and Mowbray however. I didn't expect Lennon to face up to the cowboys ruining our club and demand the title this year as he's not a Martin O'Neill type yet. Some of his signings look good and others terrible. Such a mixture so far.

Today and tomorrow should let us know if the League is a possibility which is a joke considering we've had all summer to sort it out.

 

Have to disagree here regarding the wage bill.

Who have we sold this year and who have we bought.

Let’s not get confused with transfer costs to salaries.

9 have left the club

1……Fortune 2.5m, 2……Boruc 1m, 3……Caddis, 4……Ferry together 350k, 5…...McManus 1.5m, 6…...Zheng Zhi released, .7…...Naylor free, 8……McGeady 10m and 9……Sheridan released.
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A total of £15,350,000 to the club

10 have come in so far.
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1……Izaguirre 580k, 2……Majstrovic free, 3…..Kayal undisclosed, 4……Hooper 2.4m, 5……Murphy 1.5m, 6…….Ledley free, 7……Du –Ri free, 8……Mullgrew free, 9…..Juarez undisclosed, 10 Stokes 2m
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A Total of £6,480,000

we have spent that we know of, when we find out how much Kayal and Juarez cost us then we can deduct that from the 8.8m that is profit so far.
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No point in counting loan deals as they are not our player’s just like Rass is still on our wage bill so to speak.
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I would bet that probably only 4 off the out players where on half decent money
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Boruc
McGeady
McManus
Fortuné
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If you look at the players we brought in I would say that most of them would be on a half decent wage.
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Over all, I don’t think the wage bill would have come down at all.
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We had over 35 players when the season ended and we still have over 35 players today. Until we address that problem, I can’t see the wage bill changing TBO.

 

Have to agree in that Lennon needs more time and hopefully will have the support of the majority of fans going forward....cannot hide from the fact that Europe was painful and i beleive that Lennon does lack a little experience....but would prefer we all gave him a 100% now

 

Plus Keane, Kamara, N'Guemo and Braffheid from the wage bill. None of the players we have brought in will be on anywhere near the wages of Boruc imo.

Btw SSN now breaking that we have agreed a £1.2m fee for Stokes.

 

Brown has played a lot better than people are claiming..

 

Danny, I think you put together a well presentable breakdown of pod's post there all but the part when Boruc refused the extension.

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I remember Lawwell coming out and saying about not being able to afford Buruc’s salary demands which goes to show he was willing to stay at the right price.

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One that was deemed “ not worth it” by our board. To add to that, they thought it was practical to bring someone else in for the year and pay him instead. All be it for less me thinks.


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Still, the end products the same, we still need a goal keeper come next year.

 

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They are not our players just like Rass is not Mainz's Player either.

 

But do you not think Lennon proved himself by winning 8 in a row with a team that Tony Mowbray could barely win 2 in a row with? Lennon was never going to keep those players and sign no one. He want's to build his own team like any other manager has done and I think he has brought in a few quality players.

I never said we would bring in the likes of Bellamy and Keane but Lennon said that he would try and that's good enough for me. We all know how hard it is to attract players like this to the SPL and I think if Cardiff City hadn't of came in for Bellamy we might well have seen him in the hoops again. We just have to be realistic and understand that we can't attract these big name players anymore because we play in a * league and can't afford the wages.

We were promised the money would be reinvested but like I said the board aren't going to splash the cash on players just for the sake of it to keep the fans happy. We'll still have money to spend in January. Can you think of any deals we've pulled out of in this transfer window due to the money being asked? The players that the board would have splashed the cash on have chosen to play sumwhere else. Can't blame Lennon or the board for that.

 

the press is trying to unsettle us. * sturrers

 

Tbh Markie my criticism of Lennon is muted just now. I'm not sure if it was his influence or the lack of Mowbray's which were responsible for the turn around. We did have some good players last season, of that there is no doubt.

Personally I would not have given him the job in the first place but he has to accept that the minute he walked into the job he had to deliver. Very harsh I know, but true nonetheless.

My issue about the big name players was that we publicly stated we were after them and Bullard turned us down over money. Though if the press reports were true then good on us for telling him where to go.

To concentrate solely on Lennon for the moment I would say he is ahead, slightly, in his market activities. Juarez, Kayal and Hooper (from the little we have seen) look like they will add something to the team. Murphy and Mulgrew are baffling ones. Even Mastrojvic (sp) looks pretty hit and miss to me, as does Ledley. However its too early for them all.

You say he proved himself by winning 8iar but some would say that every "big" game he has failed. Or every tie if Europe. Utrecht was abysmal both in performance and the way he set us up. Sadly we are not a club who can really afford to be learning those lessons to sides such as Utrecht.

Still on a positive note at least we have started well and each win and (especially) clean sheet should build the confidence. I'm just a greedy * that wants it all:icon_mrgreen:

 

lennon has done the transfers pretty well imo.

as for the "big names", it sbows that lennon recognises that we need first teamers instead of squad players so he went after guys that have proven themselves to be quality players. if they dont like the money that we will offer them then they can jog on.

the ones he has brought in look to be pretty good, some better than others. most of whom are proven internationalists. the likes of juarez, kayal, ledley, cha, majstorovic, izaguirre all have a good few caps. you dont become a international player unless you have something.

plus with every game, lennon will learn more about his players and himself as a manager so we should be getting stronger each week.

 

But at least he was raising the bar with his transfer targets. If he could have signed them the money we've made from selling the likes of Boruc would have been spent on these guys but they decided to go elsewhere.

Murphy and Mulgrew were strange ones but Mulgrew was a free and is a squad player and I think Murphy brings something to the team but would like to see more of him before I make a judgement.

To be fair to Lennon our away record in europe is a joke and we've had worse results than Utrecht and went on to win the league then make the last 16 of the champions league. Yes the result was very disappointing but would you sacrifice a wee run in the Europa league to win the SPL? These qualifying games came to soon for us in my opinion. We can't expect to be beating decent teams in Europe with a team that's only played a few games together. We got beat against Braga away as well but look what they done to Sevilla. I think we should forget about the European results for the minute and focus on the SPL results. If we have a good season this season and Lennon is still manager next season then I think we can judge what level we are at compared to European teams.

I'm a greedy * like yourself but I've come to terms that we just can't compete with the best teams in Europe anymore due to the finacial state of the Scottish game so the league is priority so if we win the league and a cup I think that will be a great season for us after the last two seasons.

 

I think any criticism of lenny at this stage would be harsh. Am very dissapointed to be out of europe so early, particularly when we looked so impressive against utrecht at home!

But its early days, am suprised cha is getting critised too, i no he looked like a headless chicken in the away game against utrecht, but he was trying to win the ball back, i didnt see too many doing the same. The defense sat very deep and we got punished again!

For me the early signs are promising, stokes and hooper clearly no how to score, previously we had samaras and fortune drifting wide with no options in the box to convert our chances. Now we have two goal scorers to convert our chances!

Bhoys, give Lenny time! Bar ross county and Utrecht his results have been good even at this early stage. When this team comes together and gels we might have an impressive team on are hand!

 

The criticism at this stage is appalling, he has won all his 11 games in the SPL and that still isnt good enough, whats a manager got to do here to get some praise, especially a guy who is a celtic legend

 

I will be holding back any judgment on our Team or Manager until Jan at the earliest when I have seen enough of them to have made my mind up. This early criticism of Lennon is exactly what the Huns and Media want, they want us to implode.

 

a few big earners were also punted before Lennon came in, mcmanus, caldwell, mcdonald, keane, nguemmo and kamara.

The point is Lennon has just walked through the door and has had a major overhaul, he needs time from the board and especially the fans.

I do believe the wages at this moment are a great deal less than this time last year (takiking into account keanes wages).

The high earners he has brought in all have a decent resale value or/and have come in for free.

I also like what's he's trying to install in the players and put a starting 11 with a real never say die attititude. This also has a knock on effect on the fans and in turn creates a better atmosphere at the games.

So, good luck to lenny with the season ahead, looks like he actually has about
90% of the fans backing.