Celtic’s next permanent manager

It's good to want big names, but there could be managers far worse than Lennon on Lawwell's shortlist. PL is the problem No. 1.

 

Get yer mortgage on Roberto Martinez.

Don’t @ me.

 

Brilliantly? He lost a cup final to Kilmarnock, lost a final to rangers, lost a semi to hearts, lost a semi to Ross county, loss a semi to st mirren and lost early round ties to Aberdeen and Morton. The champions league run aside he didn’t do anything that wasn’t expected of him and his football was pretty * to watch.

 

I think his transfer record needs a bit of review as it wasn't that great. He's spent similar/little less than Rodgers and the amount of utter, utter, utter dross he wasted money on is outstanding.

He could be given the gig again, but I'm not convinced he'll be finding another VVD, Wanyama, Forster, Hooper, Ledley etc... anytime soon.

 

According to tranfermarkt Rodgers spent close to £35m during 3 seasons here while Lennon spent just over £20m. That’s a huge difference and doesn’t even consider the significantly different wage budgets they were operating under.

There’s a lot of revisionism that goes on when it comes to Lennon I feel, but I can’t get my head around people questioning his record in the transfer market for us, because it was nothing short of incredible.

To look at it as plainly as possible - who in the modern era (say post MON) has done better in the transfer market for Celtic than Neil Lennon?

And it’s entirely possible that he can’t replicate that, as it is for anyone. But I would say that given that he’s done it before, it’s entirely logical to believe that he might have a better chance than anyone of doing so again.

 

Why

@MagnificentSeven

 

I probably put less weight on cup runs than most here do. To me they’re the cherry on top really, but it’s fair to say that he underperformed in domestic cup competitions. Ultimately, any European success is a much greater barometer of our standing in the game than domestic cup competitions.

Everything needs a degree of context, and in Lennons case it’s a significant one. He took over a Celtic side that needed, to be frank, completely gutted. It wasn’t a case of taking on a group of talented players who were underperforming, it was a complete rebuild that was required from top to bottom.

And he did that. Brilliantly. So well in fact that a number of his signings still play a part for us today.

Also, isn’t it a fair assumption to make that he’s probably a better manager now after gaining more experience in the English championship and with Hibs, than he was in his first stint with us, which was his first managerial role whatsoever? I think it’s likely to be the case.

 

I'd say he's definitely more experienced but I don't know how much better a manager you can become leaving a successful club playing champions league football testing yourself against top clubs in Europe to go and manage in the lower leagues of England and Scotland.

 

I like you.

Not one to play by the rules, oor Johnny.

 

I agree with this wholeheartedly.

Lennon's by no means the worst manager in the world, far from it, I just think we've moved on since he left and I never really like going backwards, clinging to former glories.

If he gets it, I'll absolutely support him and I'd hope (but doubt) the board will too, he's just not near being my first choice.

 

I think given his lack of managerial experience while he was here, any additional experience elsewhere would likely make him a better manager.

 

I'm really surprised that Rafa doesn't have far more votes. It's incredibly unlikely it would ever happen, but it would be absolutely huge if we were able to land him.

 

Failed signings are part and parcel of any transfer policy unfortunately - they’re simply unavoidable. All you can really do is look at it on a collective basis in terms of money spent and level of player acquired for that money - and on that he stands out ahead of anyone post MON imo.

And that’s what it comes down to - would anyone really say that out of the managers we’ve had post MON, any of them have a transfer record that equals Lennons?

 

The thing is most reasonably big name managers wouldn't touch us. They will see pennies to spend and feel they can get a better job elsewhere. That's why I feel Lennon will be replacement. I think he is a safe pair of hands, won't be risky.

 

Well he lost us £9million for Boyata. If we get anywhere near as much for Ntcham that we got for Vic or Forrester I'd be delighted. We also made good money on Hooper and a little and Wilson. Throw in the value we are getting from thumb and have gotten from Lustig and to a lesser extent Kayal Mulgrew and Izzy and he didn't do too bad. We can also look at the likes of Ledley and Matthews who we got for free and gave us good service.

Lenny built nearly a full team while for all the snake spent he has left us little other than the 2 above mentioned

 

The problem with Lennon is has his style of play changed since his last stint as manager? What we have to realise is that the other teams would have progressed since then and if he brings the Dave gameplan next season it won't take long for other managers to adapt.

Sometim had said it before - does Lennon have the pulling power to attract players to Celtic?

 

Resale value is only a small component of his overall success. BR may well better it, but he’s operating with a very different budget, and also benefits from the success of Lennon’s signings such as VVD at Southampton and Liverpool. It’s much easier to convince a team to stump up decent cash for your players when the last guy you sold went on to pretty much be the best defender in the world.

This is the team that took to the field during Mowbray’s last game:

Celtic: Zaluska, Wilson, Thompson, O'Dea, Braafheid (Rasmussen 75), McGowan, N'Guemo, Ki (Fortune 60), McGeady, Keane, Samaras. Subs: Boruc, Hinkel, Crosas, Zhi, Caddis. Booked: Thompson.

Yeh stand out player was on loan, the best midfielder was sold off, and Boruc left that summer too. It’s no exaggeration to say the team that Lennon inherited was the worst in the post MON era. It wasn’t just a case of signing a few players and selling them on, it was a complete rebuild from top to bottom on a very tight budget. Not only was he able to build a side to punch well above their weight in Europe, but plenty of the players he signed still play a part for us today, which alone is a tremendous demonstration of his ability to spot a player.

The point I keep coming back to is this - who has done better in terms of transfers than Lennon in the post MON era? I don’t believe anyone has.

 

I don't actually think it is that unlikely. He's been working with scraps during his whole time at Newcastle. Has showed great patience and committment to their support, who love him for it. I think he would be a great fit here. Fair enough he's not renowned for the fast-paced all out attack football we want but he'll be consistent enough in the league and hard to beat on the continent.

Out of contract, and on match of the day last night he said there were no offers from NUFC on the table. Criminal if our board aren't in touch imo.