Neil Lennon

I actually wouldn't mind seeing Broony rested on Sunday and unleash Turnbull.

Even then if Broony was to be rested on Sunday it would probably be for Ntcham.

 

My point is we forget Cal Mac is not a youngster anymore, he has a wealth of experience with us in Europe also, dropping Brown and bringing in a more attack minded player would not have negatively affected our performance on paper. We won which is main thing but definitely not bizarre to consider dropping Brown for it.

 

Neil Lennon last night insisted Europa League success has bolted shut the Celtic exit door ahead of tomorrow’s transfer deadline.



The Hoops boss believes securing a money-spinning group spot alongside AC Milan, Lille and Sparta Prague should ensure the likes of Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie are going nowhere.


Lennon hopes it will be one-way traffic into his club tomorrow with Charlton’s Alfie Doughty and Tottenham’s Ryan Sessegnon both still on his radar as possible recruits to bolster his options on the left flank.

Reports from Italy suggest a loan move for Juventus defender Mattia De Sciglio is a non-starter but the Northern Irishman is adamant any business done will only strengthen his squad.




He said: “There will be a lot of names thrown at us over the next couple of days and from my own experience I know a lot of deals can be done in the last few hours of the window. You will have to watch this space.

It’s fraught, there’s no question of that, but I’m really confident we will have all our players here.


Anyone who has been attracting attention, we are pretty confident now that there will be no business done going out.



The only real business we want to do is bring one in. There are no bids in for players I’m aware of.”


Lennon wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Sessegnon is a realistic target from Spurs.




But he admitted providing quality competition for Greg Taylor is a priority after moving on misfit Boli Bolingoli after his coronavirus protocol breaches.



He said: “We are working feverishly in the background though and we do need support there. Bolingoli has gone and Jonny Hayes left in the summer so Greg is the only one who can really fill that role at the minute.

“He needs support so it’s the one area that we do need to strengthen.”




Lennon is convinced the prospect of facing the likes of AC Milan in Celtic’s bid to reach the last 32 of the Europa League has brought a new dimension to his dressing room and to the players he claimed earlier didn’t want to be there.

He said: “Getting into the group stage changes the whole landscape of the season and with the quality of the teams in the group that’s something the players will relish.

“That’s huge for us to have in front of us.


It’s very exciting and I think it will make the players think ‘Yeah, I want to be here.’



“We have a big season domestically and that huge challenge in front of us in Europe.

“That’s something not a lot of clubs can offer.



Things will hopefully settle down after Monday.

“The flip side is players are going off with their international teams and that’s another worry they could pick up an injury.”

 

Right call regarding starting 11 today. Get a solid win and use the bench correctly and there'll be no reason to complain. Up to the players then.

 

He’s not got a clue tactically imo. There is no set out style we try and play, and I honestly think he just tells them to just go out and play better football than the other team. There’s no nice wee passing phases, the midfield is constantly disjointed looking, Eddy looks lost most of the time and there’s no runners to support him. It doesn’t look like they enjoy playing under him.

As much as I love Lenny as a Celtic Great he’s not a great manager. Best thing we could do is bring someone else in but it won’t happen and it’s giving me the fear because Gerrard he’s those * playing out of their skin for him.

 

No obvious shape or tactics - again.

 

Our insipid performance today will doubtless vindicate Lennon's decision to persist with Brown, in some people's eyes, even though we've been lacklustre all season.

 

The highlight of that brutal first half is we might have somebody who can take a decent corner now.

 

And there it is:

 

Think they've been pretty poor. Not enough pace. Just hit it high towards Duffy and hope for the best.

 

Turnbull is the best centre player I've seen since Lambert.

 

Leigh Griffiths seriously bailing out Lennon today

 

I sincerely believe that we are in serious danger of relinquishing our league title if he remains in his post. I expect nothing to change until it is too late though.

 

Could have been earlier, but made really good subs. Griffiths, Klimala, Broony and Rogic were all fantastic when they came on.

 

As nice as the win is it papers over the cracks. We're playing the same football now as when he took over from Rodgers. Boring, predictable and no creativity or tactical innovation. It's one of the reasons I didn't want him given the job in the first place.

Between September and November last year we started to play decent football and I thought perhaps I was being a bit unfair. Now I'm starting to think that form was the exception. Those wins against Lazio could easily have gone the other way if luck wasn't on our side. The win against Rennes was also against a weakened team. To his credit we got results after Christmas while the huns were imploding.

The fact is that in his time here we've played dogshit football a lot of the time, we've been punted out of the CL by Cluj and Ferencvaros (after a tactical shitshow vs Cluj), we've been tactically outclassed by the huns on several occasions, and we wasted our best opportunity at European progression with an embarrassing display vs Copenhagen. That isn't good enough at this club.

He was given the job because he was seen as the "safe" option with all that bollocks about him knowing the city. In reality we're so obsessed with the idea of 10 in a row and beating them that we're afraid to take any risks, even if it would make the team better going forward. I couldn't care less about 10 in a row if the next 5 years is going to be *.

It may seem that I'm taking pleasure in saying all this, but I'm not. I liked him as a player and I liked him for what he did as manager during the first spell after the mess Mowbray left us in. I respect what he's had to go through as our manager and the toll that has taken on his mental health. No matter what happens he has positively contributed towards our history.

He's just not a good enough manager if we want to improve our standing as a football club. Are we really satisfied with just being better than Rangers or do we want real progression? At this point it's debatable if we're better than them at all.

 

Bet he comes out and says we were brilliant today