Lenny downright negligence against so called lesser opponents cost us the title.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport...e-s-wheels-buckling-as-power-shifts-1.1099862

That's quite an interesting article by Michael Grant but doesnt go far enough in his criticism of Neil Lennon for me.

It's unfair to point the finger of blame solely at the goings on at Inverness the other evening for throwing away the league but what happened was * typical of Celtic under Neil Lennon negligent ways this season.

the hard bumpy pitch with the long grass should have suggested to any manager who knows anything about the game this wasnt going to be a night for silky football. the physical stature of our opponents was another obvious disparity between the sides. somehow lenny missed what was staring him in the face and with that moment of madness our league title aspirations disappeared over the highland horizon.

ofcourse this wasnt the only blatant error of judgement Lenny has made this season but it's only his first season as a manager and we are but an experiment so that makes it okay then? does it *. hopefully rangers will go through the same next season. but for this year, same as the last, there you go rangers, it's yours on a plate again.

back to the playing conditions at inverness the other night. remember fir park lenny? how about hampden league cup final day? penny dropped yet? i can hear the dissenters ....a crap pitch is bad for both sides blah blah. baws, a bad pitch is a great leveller. a * team will prosper on a crap pitch and a good side will suffer. a hard bumpy pitch with long grass is especially bad for one of our teams that relies on the slick fast intricate passing movements to carve openings and score goals.

however we have another team we can use (and we pay handsome wages for) to combat conditions not favourable to our slick passing side so why didnt Lenny use team b against inverness or motherwell? or for that matter in the harsh winter months of november and december when our flair players didnae want to play because it was too cold. what was the point in amassing a squad size large enough to handle the different challenges and conditions then not using them when the ocassion merits? the only excuse is Lenny's inexperience. as far as i'm concerned it's blatant mismanagement and negligence.

Lenny it would appear believes the only opposition worthy of showing any respect for is Rangers. well apart from the spectacular mismanagement lenny showed in his selection and tactics for the cup final (played on a cow field) we have come out on top against the huns time and time again.
the huns werent the problem this season. tactical nuances such as beefing up a five man midfield and samaras in attack to compensate for the huns physical superiority wasnt lost on lenny against der hun so why did he take leave of his senses against the likes of Motherwell and Inverness? Lenny has shown a complete lack of respect for the opposition of so called lesser teams and forgot the golden rule. it's the same three points won against the huns as it is against hamilton, motherwell and inverness.

ofcourse our team b with murphy and/or samaras up front isnt as pretty to watch but it can be effective especially when our back up left back charlie mulgrew slots into left midfield and makes up for inzaguirre dimunitive status smashes dangerous balls into the oppositions penalty area. ofcourse our back up left back played a couple of good games at centre half and lenny took leave of his senses and motherwell and inverness are * themselves laughing still at our expense.

the buzzword of the past few weaks from lenny has been for the players to express themselves. that's all well and good but when the flip side of that coin is for the team to lose their shape with players all out of position and no discipline such as what we saw against inverness the other evening you have to ask yourself what kind of manager adopts a strict template against the huns then throws all caution to the wind against all other opposition? Is it inexperience or downright negligence?

Either way Lenny has handed the championship to the huns on a plate and his carelessness has embarrassed the hoops in the process. and btw Lenny if you're lucky enough to be given a second shot at it we need a few more players with "bottle" who can stick the boot in when required. If only we had someone like Terry Butcher in charge instead of an inexperienced novice.

How long will we have to suffer this time before the necessary changes are made?

 

these are the same players thats been winning also! the problem lies with certain individuals not turning up the other night not lennon.

 

Lenny is as much to blame for wednesday night as the players are, made the wrong decisions when it came to subs and I agree a park like that isn't the greatest for our normal style of football.

 

They are all to blame, not just lenny.

we are quick to sing their praises when they do well so when they * up they deserve the pelters, lenny AND the team

 

horses for courses as the saying goes. lenny has applied that principle against the huns but ignored what was straing him in the face against other opposition and when playing conditions and surfaces didnt suit our slick passing 4-4-2 style.
downright negligence by lenny in my opinion.

 

Lenny is as to blame as anyone for the game the other night perhaps he should have approached the ICT in the same way as the St Johnstone but hey, that team should have been good enough to win and * occasioanlly happens, he cant win them all (though he's won 34 out of 43 league games so far, for a rookie manager pretty astonishing) I for one am 100% Neil Lennon, win or lose this title

 

Don't talk pish radup. Everyone can see it's Kris Commons fault.

 

I partly agree with this, I think it's admirable to have a team who sticks to playing their own way, like Barcelona, regardless of opposition. I would hate to have a manager like Mourinho whose teams are based around nullifying the opposition.

But yes we definitely need to figure out how to play on dreadful parks where Hooper, Stokes and Commons' link up play doesn't "zip" as much.

 

plus to call him "negligent" is ridiculous

 

As I said when folk started to blame officials for conspiring to help the orcs, we lost the league by throwing away two goal leads at home, playing horrendous against the likes of Hamilton. We should be out of sight.

Its not Lenny's fault though, but the whole team. Why a centre half wasn't signed in January is the one question I would like answered. Time an time again the January window is where we have failed to press home our first half of the season advantage. Sickening seeing the same mistake being made time and again.

 

the only thing i can possibly blame him for the other night is taking hooper off when we needed a goal! the players shat themselves end off.

 

hooper has been blowing hot and cold. 4 goals from the last 11 games just isnt good enough.

the playing surface and physical stature of the inverness defenders cried out for murphy and/or samaras up front.

as anyone qualified in the game could see the other night a 4-5-1 was a must for celtic given the conditions and opposition. lenny's negligence cost us big time.... again.

 

What advantage did Celtic have in the 1st half of the season ,this place was in meltdown leading up to the huns game in January with posters been * scared for Celtic going to Ibrox with Celtic being so poor at that time ,January was the turning point in this season for Celtic .

 

these are professional footballers and mangement they are all to "blame" or they have all let themselves down. i dont care if they were playing on a school yard or a paddy field they should be good enough over 90 minutes to beat ICT. w hav conceeded 19 this season i think and 3 were from the other night.

overall a very off day for celtic fc, and the difference between us and the huns atm is that they have ground out results when they have a * day!

 

another * statement on the back of a poor performance , we are lucky we dont have the gallows and noose on the go ,

cant believe 1 game and half of our so called fans are calling for our managers head fecking joke to be honest ,

look at the team from this time last year what position would anyone rather be in?

in my view we are much better off than last seasons debacle and improve 99%

 

Possibly the fact we had games in hand. Or that we were still in a good position despite playing poorly, surely that's a plus. And the only reason we've ever really been ahead is due to them having so many call offs.

 

the huns negative defensive style suits grounding out results.

our tactics let us down in certain matches. lenny has been out foxed by nearly every manager in our league this season. we had the players to cope we just didnt have the manager

 

utter nonsense. that's an analysis of lenny's mismanagement over the course of the season not just against inverness.