Neil Lennon

Yesterday we needed to play in the Rodgers style, keeping the ball and wait for a chance(in fact we should always be playing that way)instead we gave the ball away time after time, we should only be throwing caution to be wind is he final third of the pitch but we are back to hoofing balls out of defence again setting us back years Lennon should never have been back even in the short term

 

I definitely think there’s been a slight change in how we play.

We seem to be trying to be more direct and are putting a lot more crosses into the box than we ever done under Rodgers. The problem with that tactic is we don’t have the personnel that will get on the end of crosses so it’s a bit pointless.

 

The day after we win the Treble this season he should be told bye bye.
Bring in a manager that can actually get the best out of his players and change tactics when needed and wont just stick to picking his favourites.
Ntcham and Izzy should be gone.
Ntcham because he isnt interested and Izzy, although good player, is past it.

 

Do you two not see the hypocrisy here? I said you can’t possibly say Lennon is doing a good job because he did better than Rodgers in the same fixture, Hibs away. It’s laughable. So to use your logic I brought up home fixtures against Livingston, Aberdeen and an away fixture against Dundee that we scraped through under Lennon. All of which Rodgers done better in. Using this ridiculous logic that people defending Lennon started

Now you are bring up away fixtures against Livingston, so I could bring up home fixtures against Hibs? Can you not see now how tedious that argument is?

Judge both on a whole. Don’t even compare the two. Can you really say you’re happy with what Lennon is doing when you isolate his time in charge?

 

There was a clear breakdown between the snake and Lawwell/the board mate..

In between qualifiers at probably our toughest venue at the time...goes to Tynecastle and starts Hendry, Hayes and Kouassi and benches Forrest, Edouard, Rogic and Ajer. Epic fail..

Easter Road just after Salzburg at home and he goes to some dodgy 3 at the back with Izzy on the left side alone and ended up with Sinclair as a right wing back and another fail..

The Camp Newco he starts our best centre mid left back, a slight teenage winger up top alone and again it's a car crash..

He started becoming too cute. Clearly it had something to do with him already in his mindset being half away and a message to the board as there struggle and breakdown was beyond repair. I'm no saying it was all rosy in the garden bar that because it wasn't but it's a big factor..

Desmond got them together and we got some loans in and get steadied the ship and got us back on track. Weren't conceding and had been smashing almost everyone. Any domestic side who came to Celtic Park were petrified and knew they were leaving with nil pwa..

Lenny has came in and done as best he can at the moment but I'd honestly be fearful moving forward in to next season. We are stumbling towards the title. Apart from the sheep, we haven't had a consistently good 90 minute's in any other game and we generally look flat and out of idea's, on and off the pitch..

We need a freshness across the whole set up. It doesn't need to be major but with the right appointment who can get us pressing and giving 100% on the pitch every game, with belief....it will seem major. I don't think Lenny can bring that to us this time..

 

The board need to get this sorted and just announce the new manager.

Let Lennon see out the season, let him lift another league title and beat hearts to hopefully get the Treble Treble.

Let the new guy bust DD's and Lawwell's balls and spend the time behind the scenes getting in players he wants.

 

I’ve been trying to stay out of this thread since the Hibs result, given the inevitable panic we would see from fans. Some perspective is needed - the last time we won here with Rodgers was October 2017.

I disagree with this post though. Lennon got it wrong yesterday I think, but as far as variety of tactics goes, I would argue he’s the most pragmatic we’ve had in years, and certainly moreso than Rodgers.

Also noticed people slating him for starting Izaguirre. I have no idea about the fitness of KT as things stand, but if he’s not fit, our backup LB is Izzy. Not ideal to be left bringing in a guy you brought to the club the best part of a decade ago, but a situation we find ourselves in because of frequent poor transfers planning as of late.

 

Aye, Izzy was the only option at LB.

Hayes had been in a good vein of form and would have been wasted playing at LB.

He's come across as able enough when used there but as it is likely it would have meant we'd have got a stagnant and massively predictable Sinclair for a whole match would have been even more infuriating.

 

It doesn't work like that..

He started Hayes who is a backup to Sinclair..

He has brought on Johnston before Sinclair who is also behind Sinclair in the pecking order..

Izzy is a long since spent force. Lenny should know this as he exploited Izzy relentlessly the last time we went to Easter Road..

Hayes, Toljan, Church are all comfortable at left back and would be better choices than a guy who absolutely cannot move anymore..

 

Even how much I rate Edouard we need a striker that doesn't want to come short and drift wide. That will try and go for crosses in the air. We try to walk it in.
I honestly think if we had that we would be winning these 0-0 each games comfortably.
We are finding it hard to break teams down.

If we win the treble I'm happy for him to be permanent manager and get rid of the dead wood in the team. Bring in some new faces and implement his style.
Hopefully win 10 I'm a row with a safe pair of hands. Then we can experiment.

 

I don’t think Hayes starting over Sinclair was necessarily the wrong call. Had we started Sinclair and achieved the same result, plenty would’ve been calling for Hayes to have played instead.

Izzy is definitely finished. No argument there. We would’ve been better starting one of the younger lads.

My point remains though - it’s a venue we’ve always struggled at in recent years. We’ve actually frequently played worse than we played yesterday. It doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be criticised for the performance and setup, but some perspective is needed.

 

I agree we need a penalty box striker that can head a ball or even a Hooper type..

If we don't have that right now then it begs the question, why are we playing Jonny Hayes and whipping crosses in to our only available striker who isn't that kinda player?

It's baffling to me..

I've noticed we aren't getting in behind and stretching back line's enough. Weah came on and instantly looked dangerous doing so. Even his chance for Edouard wasn't skill, it was desire to get there before the defender and get a touch on it that freed up the space..

 

I think that would be a disaster. Announcing a new manager whilst Lennon is still here would completely undermine him and create a situation where the squad were being led by someone who they new was away.

It would be like having a supply teacher in place effectively. If we’re going along a path that doesn’t involve Lennon, we shouldn’t announce it until after the season is over.

 

I was alarmed as soon as I saw Izzy in the starting lineup..

Then within 3 minute's they'd skinned him twice..

Hayes starting wasn't a problem (I don't rate Sinclair so i wasn't getting at that) and you could make a case it was to cover Izzy as well. It wasn't working though. To then leave him on and no throw Hayes back to left back was just bizzare. It was obvious to any of us watching that Weah was called for..

Agreed we've played worse there. This season the 2 nil was much much worse and the perspective today is that it was annoying but we'll still get the job done..

 

Guiding us to the treble is a bit much. We had one cup in the bag, an 8 point gap in the league and in the QF of the Scottish Cup. Fair enough he’s got us to the final, but let’s be honest, if he hadn’t it would have been a massive disappointment and failure.

 

We haven't won it yet either.

At this stage it's a bit presumptuous to be thinking the Treble is in the bag.

 

well he's * either way with that logic. If he wins the cups he doesn't deserve any credit?
We had two tough games the last two rounds and have a tough game in the final too.
Everyone was worried about the game at easter road in the cup even when Rodgers was in charge.

I can remember a lot of people on here saying they would be happy just winning the league the night Rodgers ditched us.
There was a lot of uncertainty over the full thing.

 

Sorry, were you not the one that was saying it was unlikely due to Lenny’s Hampden record? Getting it over the line after all the issues we’ve had this season would be * exceptional.

Trying to find reasons to handwave it is unfair on Lennon and through this your criticism has been mostly been fair, that really isn’t though. If he gets it over the line he deserves the credit for doing it.

 

Surely if players are going through the motions then its up to the manager to sort it out?I mean if the player is not pulling his weight then its up to the manager to have words with him and if that dont work he drops the player?

In any team if a player is going through the motions and its allowed then that is the fault of the manager.