CQN continues our series of looking at how ex-Celts south of the border are getting on. The weekend was an eventful one for both Neil Lennon and Artur Boruc…
LIVID Neil Lennon tore into his Bolton flops after the 4-3 defeat from Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road.
The team’s fourth defeat of the season leaves them third bottom of the Championship only one point above Bristol City and Preston.
Former Celtic boss Lennon said his players were “mentally fragile” and he also slammed keeper Ben Amos, who signed in the summer from Manchester United.
He said: “Defensively, we allowed too many headers, didn’t stop crosses and were slack with the ball.
“Why we can’t see the game out I don’t know. We’re mentally fragile, I think.
“I am fed up talking about it.
“The goalkeeper has got to have a good look at his performance, as well. We’ve got high hopes for him, but for the second goal he should have done a lot better.
“For the fourth goal, I know it has gone in the corner, but I think it was saveable.”
Lennon’s side were 2-0 up by the 11th minute after strikes from Gary Madine and Liam Feeney before Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pulled one back.
Leroy Fer levelled just before the interval and Tjarron Chery fired them ahead shortly after the hour mark before Emmanuel-Thomas hit the fourth at the death.
QPR gaffer Chris Ramsey said: “I’m not pleased with the way we defended and the marner in which we gave away three goals.”
Meanwhile Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe refused to blame blundering Artur Boruc for gifting Watford a 1-1 draw.
The former Celtic keeper made a horrendous error when his clearance was blocked by Odion Ighalo who equalised on the stroke of half-time.
Glenn Murray had earlier given the home side the lead, but Howe defended the erratic Pole after his mistake.
He said: “Artur didn’t mean to pass the ball to their centre-forward. The disappointing thing for us was that we were well on top before the interval and one goal wasn’t enough for how dominant we were.
“It is another game where we feel like we should have won.
“So, it’s a disappointing result for us, but, in the main, it was a very good performance.
“We encourage our players to play from the back and be brave, so I don’t think there’s any blame to be apportioned here.
“Artur has been excellent since he’s been here and made very few errors.
“Unfortunately, in the life of a goalkeeper, he’s going to make mistakes.
“It’s one of those things that happen in football.”
Despite Boruc’s boob, the Cherries still had the chance to win the game, but Murray saw his penalty saved by Heurelho Gomes with seven minutes to play.
Howe added: “There was nothing wrong with the penalty-kick.
“I think it was a very good save from the goalkeeper. He made two world class saves during the game, the save from the overhead kick was incredible, too.”
