CONTINUING our Monday review at how former Celts fared in England at the weekend….
NEIL LENNON seems to be letting the pressure of managing skint, rock-bottom Bolton get to him.
Hull City’s 1-0 win over the Championship strugglers left the former Celtic boss with only one win from the last 20 league games.
When asked if he was the right man to lead the team, Lennon replied: “Maybe not. I don’t know. I think I am.”
The latest defeat in the downward spiral saw the Wanderers slip five points from safety and came only two days after the club received a winding-up petition.
Lennon added: “It is a results-driven business at the end of the day, so one win in 20 is not great reading.”
The club also toppled out of the League Cup in the opening round when they were beaten by League One side Burton Albion.
Wanderers face administration and a 12-point deduction if money cannot be raised or new owners do not come in to pay an unpaid tax bill of around £600,000.
Lennon, who took over from Dougie Freedman in October last year, accepted that any such action could trigger certain relegation.
He said: “Administration would mean you are docked 12 points and, basically, looking at being a League One club next season. But with the amount of games still to play that’s one scenario you want to avoid.”
JACKIE McNAMARA’S misery at York City continued as he experienced his ninth successive defeat – with Bristol Rovers scoring the winner in stoppage time.
The rock-bottom League Two side are without a victory since September 5 and the ex-Hoops skipper admitted nerves were playing a huge part in their struggle.
He said: “Of course, I’ve got to disappointed losing with a late goal like that. The equaliser, too, was a bit unfortunate, taking a deflection from a free-kick.
“But in the second-half you could see we were very nervous because we hadn’t won for a while and I thought that reflected in our play.
“We probably rushed things, didn’t take care with our passing. We got nervy and deeper, put ourselves under a lot of pressure at times and Bristol Rovers pushed men forward.”
But McNamara, who has also bossed Partick Thistle and Dundee United, has vowed to fight on. He added: “The job is quite similar to my first two, so I’m not panicking. There are a lot of things that need to be changed, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel.”
GARY CALDWELL suffered agony as struggling Blackpool notched up only their second away win of the season to beat Wigan 1-0.
The former Celtic and Scotland skipper said: “It’s a massively disappointing result. We didn’t put the ball in the box as much as we should and we didn’t create enough opportunity from our good play.
“But there were spells in the game where I thought we did okay. The most disappointing thing is that we got it to good areas and didn’t make enough of it.”
MICK McCARTHY was happy to see the nasty side of Ipswich in their 1-0 away win over MK Dons.
The former Hoops centre-half said: “It was a really tough, resolute and well-organised performance against a team that had lots of the ball.
“We had some really clear-cut chances to put the game to bed sooner. There are lots of things we need to do to be successful in this league and that’s sometimes doing some of the dirty things well, too.
“The nasty side of the game is just as important to me because, without that, you’ve got no chance in this league.”
TONY MOWBRAY’S Coventry City side lost 1-0 at Sheffield United yesterday, but kept their place in second top spot in League One.
