Neil Lennon

I have now entered stage 5 of the 8 stages of grief..

 

NEIL LENNON’S always remained focused.

His hope now is that the board backing he’s been given for the rest of the year will give his players 2020 vision.




The Celtic boss looked like he’d be out the door and out of sight after Sunday’s 1-1 draw with St Johnstone.

But instead of being sacked, owner Dermot Desmond told Lennon he had until the New Year to turn things around.

It came as a huge relief to the under-pressure Northern Irishman and he reckons the same can be said for the players at the club too.

Lennon said: “It’s great for the players to have continuity. I think they are really happy about it as well.


We can all look forward. Myself, the coaches and players all want the same thing — success for the club.

“We know the results and performances have not been good enough and want to turn it around as soon as possible.



There’s just been a bit of anxiety in their play.

“If anything I think they are trying too hard.


“They need to try to relax a bit more and play their natural game. Uncertainty can have an affect on players, no doubt about it.

“It’s out of the way and they have a massive month coming up with a lot of games.

“We have got a Cup final in ten days, so it’s very welcome from that point of view.

“We can just hopefully find that piece of magic, or luck, or whatever, and produce the consistent performances that we’ve been missing these last few weeks.

“Confidence works both ways. It can come back, 100 per cent. There’s no shortage of winners in the dressing room and no shortage of competitors. They’re frustrated as well.

“I know they were angry, annoyed, disappointed on Monday. They’ve had a couple of days to digest it and they are ready to go again.

“But it’s great for the players and great for myself to get that backing.”

Lennon took huge comfort from a phone call from club owner Dermot Desmond on Sunday night when many were predicting the axe was about to fall.

Asked about how he feels that the billionaire has his back, the Northern Irishman added: “It’s wonderful.

Listen, we are going through an adverse time and he has shown great strength and I have shown strength as well, as have the players.

“Hopefully we can quickly dispel this bad run with performances and results.

“And, if not, with performances then get the results and build from there.”

Celtic fans have now turned their guns on the club’s hierarchy — with one outrageous banner outside the ground reading “shoot the board”.

That’s the price they are paying for supporting Lennon and refusing to sack him — which goes against the grain.

Most clubs could’ve sacked Lennon long before now, but he added: “This board don’t behave in that manner.

“There’s a durability about them and I think that’s why the club’s been so successful during their tenure.

“We have had unparalleled success here and they believe continuity is important. It breeds success.

“That’s what we want. The league is not over by any means. It is going to take determination to turn the season around quickly and get back to the standards they know they are capable.

“It’s a modern-day phenomenon. Reactions now are so instantaneous. There has to be some perspective.





I’m the first one to say the results have not been good enough lately for the squad we have here and the standard and expectations we set.

“We can turn it around. I don’t think we need to make radical changes to the squad or the training. We know it’s been successful before and they’ll be successful again.”

Celtic at times have looked a very decent side. There were spells last week in Milan where they were outstanding going forward.

Lennon added: “They can do it. I thought that they were breathtaking at times against Lille and were breathtaking again in the San Siro — not just in going 2-0 up but their reaction to going 3-2 down.

“Teams play differently when they come to Celtic Park, particularly Scottish teams, but that’s nothing new to us.

“We just have to find ways of breaking them down — and earlier — with more variation to our play.”

The Celtic players have been speaking to a psychologist lately in a bid to get their heads around their problems.


Lennon said: “A psychologist comes in two times a month.

“The players have been having individual conference calls as well.

“They’ve been working away on a one-to-one basis at times.

“You just don’t know with some players, some of them are very private individuals who don’t give too much away.

“What I did feel is that you can see a little bit of anxiety in their play in the final third. They’re trying to force the issue a little bit. I felt that was apparent on Sunday.

“They were not taking enough risks with the ball or penetrating enough. They were just holding on to the ball for that extra touch or making the safe pass.

“We need to get past that and express ourselves with a little bit more freedom when we’re out there.

“We had plenty of the ball at the weekend without putting enough crosses into the box.

“We had some good chances but we are not creating the volume of chances I’d like.

“We need to stop trying too hard and just relax a bit more out there.”







THERE have been myriad reasons for Celtic’s unprecedented spell of domestic dominance in the past 10 years; the difficulties their city rivals Rangers have gone through, the impact made by so many of their signings and an ability to develop their own outstanding talent have all played a part.

Yet, Neil Lennon believes the contribution of the Parkhead board, who have presided over nine successive Scottish title wins and three consecutive trebles since 2011, shouldn’t be overlooked either.


The calls for Lennon to be sacked grew after the Glasgow club were knocked out of the Betfred Cup at home by Ross County last month and became deafening when they drew with St Johnstone in the Premiership on Sunday to fall 13 points behind their city rivals.

However, major shareholder Dermot Desmond, chief executive Peter Lawwell and their fellow directors stood firm, refused to bow to mounting pressure from their disgruntled fanbase and issued public declarations of support for their manager instead.


Lennon has been grateful for the backing. He knows that in the modern game the longevity of those in his profession is getting shorter with every passing season. He appreciates that few major clubs would have retained his services after such a dire run of form.

But the Northern Irishman feels the hierarchy’s stubborn singlemindedness is one of the reasons Celtic are bidding to become the first side to complete 10-In-A-Row in the 2020/21 season – and insisted that it could still ensure they make history come next May.

“Managers don’t get long now,” he said at Lennoxtown yesterday as he looked ahead to the Europa League match with Lille this evening. “It’s a modern day phenomenon. Reactions now are so instantaneous.

“But this board don’t behave in that manner. There’s a durability about them, and I think that’s why the club has been so successful during their tenure. We’ve had unparalleled success here and they believe continuity is important. It breeds success.


“That’s what we want. The league is not over by any means. It’s going to take determination to turn the season around quickly and get back to the standards they know they are capable.

“There has to be some perspective. I’m the first one to say the results have not been good enough lately for the squad we have here and the standard and expectations we set for ourselves.

“But we can turn it around. I don’t think we need to make radical changes to the squad or the training. We know it’s been successful before and they’ll be successful again.”

Lennon added: “It (the St Johnstone draw) is out of the way and they have a massive month coming up with a lot of games. We’ve got a cup final in 10 days, so it (the vote of confidence) is very welcome from that point of view as well.


“We can just hopefully find that piece of magic, or luck, or whatever, and produce the consistent performances that we’ve been missing these last few weeks.

“Confidence works both ways. It can come back, 100 per cent. There’s no shortage of winners in the dressing room, no shortage of competitors. They are frustrated as well. I know they were angry, annoyed, disappointed on Monday. They’ve had a couple of days to digest it and they are ready to go again.”

David Turnbull, the Scotland Under-21 midfielder who joined Celtic in a record £3.25m transfer from Motherwell back in August, is certainly eager to get involved and has every chance of playing against Lille.

The 21-year-old, who had been sidelined after testing positive for coronavirus, made his comeback against St Johnstone on Sunday when he replaced Tom Rogic in the second-half and performed well.

Lennon has used Turnbull sparingly this term. But he will be missing Ryan Christie, who is suspended, tonight and has doubts over Nir Bitton, Hatem Elhamed and Callum McGregor. He envisages the former SFWA Young Player of the Year being used more often in the second half of the season.

“He’s absolutely part of the plans,” he said. “I was impressed with him when he came on at the weekend. He’s had nearly a month away from us with the international squad and then the Covid. He had to go through all those protocols, but he’s fit and healthy now. I think he’ll play a part between now and the end of the year.


“David has had absolutely no luck at all. He’s a great kid, a really talented kid, and he’s due a break. His attitude has been excellent. He is really low maintenance, he comes in with a smile on his face every day. David is enjoying the environment and the challenges ahead of him.

“He will make an impact between now and the end of the year and I’m absolutely sure he’ll make serious inroads over the next year to 18 months.

“The likes of (Patryk) Klimala, Turnbull and (Ismaila) Soro will come in to my thinking. We’ll make some changes and give some players game time and others some well earned rest.”

Soro, the industrious central midfielder who joined Celtic from Bnei Yehuda in Israel back in January, is another individual who Lennon anticipates coming to the fore in the months ahead.

“It’s been tough for him after what’s happened not long after he arrived,” he said. “He was back in the Ivory Coast for a family matter and then had to quarantine, so it’s not been ideal for him.

“He’s been back training for a few weeks and has looked good. There’s obviously a lot of competition for him in there, with the likes of (Scott) Brown and McGregor, Rogic and Christie, real stalwarts of the team, and now obviously Turnbull.

“We’d had to be patient with him but will give him a start tomorrow. We won’t judge him on one game, obviously, but it’s an opportunity for him to get 90 minutes in to his legs. He could play a bigger role in the remainder of the season.”

Elsewhere, Lennon stressed that he was unaware Elhamed, who was yesterday linked with a return to his native Israel in January, wanted to leave.

 

What are the three stages you have left?

 

Remorse, Acceptance and Hope young man, Hink that’s what the board are hoping the fan base are at come ST renewals


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Yes he is brutal, but the problem is way bigger than Neil Lennon.

 

What about this: he is scum. An odious, pathetic, human being, who is very bad at what he does for a living and knowing so is using the club that gave him so much success and money as a hostage for a payout?

 

Not sure what the eight stages are but going by your scale I have reached level 7. Level 8 feels a long, long way off.

 

I’m past 8 because it’s now actually causing me to be mentally drained and depressed, if I hear one more * say it’s only football I’ll be in the jail.

 

Absolutely - I think the bigger issue is Lawwell - He's a competent financial guy but should have been told a long time ago that he has no say in football decisions. DD is contrary - he made the decisions to bring in MON + Rodgers but left the appointments of Lennon and Deila up to Lawwell.

There is no doubt that bringing Lennon back was a mistake and that he and his backroom staff have to go.

However, if Lawwell maintains his current level of involvement - we'll either appoint another PL puppet or, if it were a decent manager, he'll walk as soon as PL sticks his nose in.

IMO, the best news that could come out of the AGM is if it were announced that Lawwell is stepping down at the end of the season.

 

Someone has got to want the job.

I’d absolutely love someone to come in and be fired up to try turn this around, it’s almost win win because they’d not be expected to.

Say we turned around our performances, beat the huns but we fell short, they’d be somewhat a cult hero and either get kept on or leave themselves in a good place.

If they don’t turn it around at all, Tony Mowbray has proven that you can have a monumental failure here and still have a pretty decent career.

 

If after listening to that rambling nonsense the board or anyone else can still believe that Neil Lennon is the man to turn things around then folks I have a bridge to sell you.

That one question and it’s non answer is proof positive that Lenny is way in past his depth and does not have a solution.

 

There are 5 stages of Grief

• denial.
• anger.
• bargaining.
• depression.
• acceptance.

You can alternated between the stages of grief .....Kubler Ross

I'm at the last one

 

Just seen the Christmas advert honestly wouldn't surprise me if Lennon's still here cause they had this recorded and didn't want to pay for a new one

 

get to * lennon asap.HH

 

That certainly crossed my mind

 

correct.when you live and breathe celtic this is like someone slowly strangling your reason for living.HH

 

yep.HH

 

Seriously, some of the comments in this thread are way over the line. If they were posted anywhere else anyone would think that they had been lifted from some Ipox follow-followers, not Celtic fans.

As I've previously posted, I don't think that Lenny is a particularly good manager and was apprehensive when he was handed the job F/T following his interum appointment following BR's departure. Those shortcomings have contributed to our current plight. He does have a good eye for a player, but as a tactician and his game management leaves much to be desired.

But to read some of the comments on here, they are way over the line, and cannot be defended or justified. Seriously, get a grip.

 

There are plenty of decent managers that would love the opportunity to manage Celtic. The main problem is Lawwell - for example take someone like Eddie Howe - no way would he tolerate PL acting like a DoF and, even if he was given assurances that PL wouldn't - the second PL reneged (as he did with Rodgers) Howe would want out.

That's my concern - that it's another PL puppet or a decent manger who will leave as soon as PL sticks his nose in.

I'm not too worried about the pressure on any new manager. If nothing happened until Jan, I think most fans would accept that the league is out of reach and put the blame where it belongs with Lennon + Lawwell. If we saw improvement and the team moving in the right direction, I think they'll be behind the manager and not blame them for Lennon's shambolic season.

If we scrape wins against Dundee Utd, Hamilton etc and win the cup - they won't get rid of Lennon until its too late if at all.

I think 10IAR is gone - my dream now is that we start next season with a new management team and no Lawwell.

 

Any chance of ye * off Neil pls?