Derek McInnes gave Neil Lennon anticlimactic end to first tenure

If Neil Lennon carries the scars of defeats around with him, Saturday’s game against Aberdeen will have some significance.  The last trophy Neil lost as Celtic manager was at the hands of Aberdeen.

Then Derek McInnes was in the Aberdeen job a year and that season saw his team with the League Cup, their first trophy in 19 years, and qualify for Europe for the first time in five years.  Anthony Stokes put Celtic ahead in the fifth round tie at Celtic Park, but Aberdeen came back to win 1-2.

That game took place on 8 February with Celtic out of sight in the league.  They won the title in March, at the earliest date in over 80 years, but elimination from the Scottish Cup so prematurely meant the last two months of Neil’s tenure were anticlimactic.  The stadium was flat on match days, giving everyone unwelcome time to ponder, What next?

If we got the better of Aberdeen and extended competitive pressures until the end of the season, different decisions might have been made.

Much has happened since but Derek McInnes still knows what he is doing.  He won at Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden (against Newco) last year, killing that old question about Aberdeen: Can they win in Glasgow?