I listened to Neil Lennon speak after our last two games with some regret. He has been drawn into justifying the form of a team on the verge of 8-in-a-row, not having lost a goal in 8 hours of football, but who are struggling to put the ball in the net at their usual rate.
Neil was given a great opportunity, having fallen out with Hibernian, he could scarcely imagine being Celtic manager a few weeks later. But the old adage, Never follow Sinatra, holds true. Better to become Celtic manager after Tony Mowbry, or John Barnes, than Martin O’Neill or Brendan Rodgers.
Gordon Strachan will attest that it is hard to live up to the standards of a legend, no matter how many times you out-perform him in the Champions League or in the rate you accumulate domestic titles. Neil is going through a bit of the same.
A team which looked listless before transformational halftime changes at Murrayfield in October, is struggling to spark. The case for changes in the squad is evident, the fact that a manager who took over on 26th February had nothing to do with this situation, should be crystal clear.
Making the right decisions in the summer is a multi-layered question. We want the best manager we can get, but we also have to make the squad as ready as possible for the qualifiers. We want to qualify for the Champions League and we must – must – win 9 and then 10-in-a-row.
This is not a normal summer where we appoint a new manager. The history books will prominently record what happens over the next two seasons. I am sure everyone at Celtic is acutely aware they need to avoid what happened across the city in season 1997-98.
All of these questions need to be parked for the time being. We have a manager and squad who are within a point of winning the league, and a Cup Final of delivering the treble treble. Neil is doing very well wearing another man’s overalls and does not need to answer for the fact that they are torn.
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good morning CQN
Happy Wednesday eve all.
Lennon is not the man to take us forward..
HH!
Paul
good analogy re the overalls . Did Jock Stein not say something about sometimes having to put on the working clothes to get a job done?
Beaton for Saturday,we should have told the SFA,him and Dallas, never again, with good reason.
Glen D- ‘there’s games for dinner suits, and games for boiler suits’
Oh God……………Please spare Neil the further turmoil of shepherding the Hoops over the next two seasons…please, he’s played his part and will be remembered as a hugely significant Tim in a considerable pantheon of characters.
I’d love it if he could be retained in some way going forward – but I expect that’s my naivete at play.
The next two years are going to be a Monkey Circus of sleekit hunned-up chicanery at a whole other Level.
Please spare Neil the brunt.
Please.
HH
Bada
thanks…that’s the one I was thinking of . 4 more boiler suits this season , then let’s see some dinner suits next season!
Surely Neil can wear his own overalls though! por cierto
Paul67
‘ Neil is doing very well wearing another man’s overalls and does not need to answer for the fact that they are torn. ‘
Timely shout, and all this angst for a man that survived real bombs and bullets, and has had the temerity to allow Celtic, to draw twice.
BR got off his mark still wearing his ‘torn overalls’
Get behind the manager the way he got behind our club.
FOOL TIME WHISTLE on 30TH APRIL 2019 2:39 AM
SUPERSUTTON on 29TH APRIL 2019 11:12 PM
I usually connect with your posts really positively but I wanted to comment on your most recent, with respect.
———-
There was certainly respect in your reply and in return I must say the information provided deserves more than respect. Thank you.
I too have recently lost a good friend, ex-colleague to MND. He went to Seville with no ticket and wearing the away strip which I had given him – I had the first team strip and a ticket !
A close family friend has had MND since his early thirties, more than 15 years ago.
If I could just reiterate my point so that i am clear.
Dementia of all varieties needs researched. However, what I don’t like is the tone of entitlement that ex professional footballers deserve some priority or compensation because their condition may be linked to heading a ball as part of their job (in all probability it Is).
I’m saying that research should go beyond trying to prove that specific link and search for the root cause of all varieties of dementia with a view to prevention of those we do NOT willingly participate in (like smoking being relate to cancer).
Removing the heading of a football is not really ever going to happen is it, regardless of whether it is directly linked or implied as a cause.
It will be a tough call for the Board, whether to stick with Lenny or not. I suspect they won’t but watching all the Hun heads explode if Lenny got ten-in-a-row would be quite the spectator sport.
Bargain Basement sale
Torn Overalls ,£49 a pair…get the last of them now..( one careless owner)
We are all Torn Overalls
Cmon The Torn Overalls
Viva la torna overalla brigada
Everyone should wear Torn Overalls to the last home game against Hearts
60 thousand nutters in torn green and white overalls…maybe the board would get the message ( which is ???)
Rod might even write a song about it ( first cut is the deepest)
IT’S another Glasgow derby for the Hoops, and this time it’s the turn of the Under-20s as Celtic and Rangers go head to head in the City of Glasgow Cup final, right here at Celtic Park.
Celtic TV are delighted to announce the game will be LIVE to all subscribers worldwide including UK and Ireland! So join us on Celtic TV tonight (Tuesday, April 30) as the young Celts set out in hope of lifting the coveted trophy in Paradise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASwge9wc-eI
Neil Lennon and the Celtic Soul brothers
Beaton to ref our game on Saturday? Now the SFA are really taking the piss .
We will all get behind the management team and players as we have two pieces of silverware to win. However the board must appoint the right man to take us to 10. Personally I would like us to progress in Europe but the 10 is the main one for me. Neil has stepped in and been paid handsomely to do so over the last few weeks. I would hope that the ambition of the board in appointing a manager matches the ambition of the supporters.
Glendalys
These things even themselves out, unless your Willie Collum.
BSR
Maybe we should have been more blunt and personal ,and questioned Beaton’s agenda the way they did with Collum ,rather than asking to look at certain aspects of the game .
my concern is to win the league first.. We will get nothing at Ibrox…the refs will not allow it. So we need to win On Saturday. Watching NL in dugout seemingly not caring about lethargy on the park is like watching Mowbray with his arms folded. Sends bad message to players… None of us would be sitting there arms crossed when we have been poor for an hour… and to keep making excuses a bout the players being tired is nonsense… only a few have actually played for majority of the season.
Interesting dynamics with this squad – clearly it’s as much to do with their character as it is any manager.
Under BR we started the season poorly; we ran into Xmas depleted and wan; emerged from Middle Easter sunbreak fragmented and now, with NL’s steadying force seem to be limping over the line without real spark.
On paper, we have a squad that should be able to sweep aside any penny-ante imposters at home or abroad.
Clearly, the next ghuy needs to be able to deliver a belief reboot, rather than just a timely boot up the clacker.
My pal today said we could do worse than Moyes. He may be right. Does DD have Laurent Blanc’s number??
With regards to David Moyes. The feeling i get it that the majority of the support would rather not see him as our manager. I feel that he was superb at Everton and not given enough time with United. Does that stop him from being successful with us? Personally I would rather see him than Neil next season. he’s not my number one choice but in my opinion a better one than we have at present..
Disingenious garbage Paul.
Lennon is doing the bare minimum, winning a little over half his league games and without much finesse.
This crap about his having another man’s team would be far more easy to swallow if he hadn’t decided he was also going to use the other man’s tactics. If Lennon sounds like a man on the defensive then that’s as it should be, because he does have to answer whether he’s in the job for another four weeks or another four years.
The question facing us this summer is not multi-layered at all, although a lot of people are determined to try to make it seem that way.
There is one simple question to answer here, and just one; Is Lennon the best we can get?
And the answer is no, and everyone – even his fan club on here – knows that the answer is no.
So if the board appoints him they will plainly NOT have done their best to ensure ten in a row. They will have abrogated their responsibility to put us in the best possible position. Appointing Lennon will represent a major backward step, and only a fool would deny that.
It will be a shocking appointment, and this is DEFINITELY the time to say so, whilst there IS still time. All this talk of parking the decision is transparent … park it until when? Until the board can market it as fait accompli? No chance, I’m afraid.
I posted this on Twitter and is the best I could do to summarise my feelings.
I do believe it is possible for the human brain to be able to simultaneously hold the following:
1. Eternal gratitude to Lennon for coming in and keeping the show going;
2. Being a Critical Friend as regards his approach; and
3. Wanting the best long-term appointment for Celtic.
HELP….
I am Torn between wearing “Torn” Overalls….or “Ripped” Overalls ?
Who would win a Fight between Torn Overalls and ripped Overalls ?
OVERALL…I really dont care.
…
As for Brother Beaton being the “Ref” for game v Aberdeen…whilst I fully agree that Celtic SHOULD have went to Town on this Hun Chump and with the SFA…maybe…just maybe…He will be trying to show how “unbiased” he is, and might actually ref the game fairly this weekend, and even MAYBE give us several penalities for feck all ….just to even things out ?
Who am i kidding ?
HH
“A team which looked listless before transformational halftime changes at Murrayfield in October”
———
Not sure I would call scoring ten goals in two games “listless”, Paul. Neither would I say that Strachan outperformed O’Neill in the Champions League. But it’s all down to opinions I suppose.
I would hope we are looking beyond the old firm bragging rights of ten in a row and at becoming a force in Europe again. If we are going to gauge ourselves within Scottish football then we are on a fast-track to mediocrity. Should be looking for Rodgers+.
RIP Stevie Chalmers.
JAMES FORREST on 30TH APRIL 2019 1:21 PM
Agree that few could argue that Neil would be the best we can appoint, why then are so many, including guys like John Hartson, wanting him to get the job?
Overall I’m torn between calling our manager Neil Lennon , or just plain Lennon. In my opinion he has never been plain , our Neil lennon.
???????
ONENIGHTINLISBON:
The same reason so many people were – and are still – defending McLeish’s tenure as Scotland boss.
You stand up for your mates.
Honestly, those who support Lennon’s appointment are in the press all day every day, getting their side of this across.
But it’s the rest of us who are being told to shut it.
Bankiebhoy1
The next two years are going to be a Monkey Circus of sleekit hunned-up chicanery at a whole other Level.
Brilliant …
CELTIC BY NUMBERS
That kind of non black-and-white thinking also summarises the spirit of my feeling towards Brendan, too.
But can be quite dangerous around this borough ;) HH
I would rather have Neil Lennon as Manager than Moyes…every Day of the week ! Moyes or Mourinho would split the support even further, and hasnt Steve Clarke already stated that he wouldnt want Him and his Family to be caught up in the West of Scotland Bigotry …( his words , not mine) ?
I Dislike Mourinho, although if he was appointed, I can only assume that he would be given real Money to spend…but as for Him and his nature ?
Some on here etc, don’t want Neil Lennon to get the Job….but as far as I see, not many supporters have offered up any or many alternative Big Name mangers that would make the vast majority of the support Happy ?
I do NOT know the answer ?
HH
Hypothetical scenario.
Had Ole Snake Eyes decided that he’d stick with Celtic but then announced at the end of the season he was for the off, we’d all, I’m sure, have had our own lists of possible replacement managersHow high up on that list would Neil have featured?
Neil would be a very good manager to guide Celtic through the next couple of seasons. But that’s not the same thing as saying that he’s our number one choice.
Anyway, following the events of late February I vowed then never again to get emotionally attached to a manger. Still feel that I was taken for a ride with the last guy. So all I want this time around is someone who puts the emphasis on attacking, entertaining football but with the ability to sacrifice those ideals when the odds are stacked against us.
Lunchtime rant over….
Stevie Chalmers rest in peace
As a wee bhoy
Thank you for being a major part of my growimg up,the amount of times i repeated your 69 cup final goal on countless times,my 7 year old self cnmmentating,breathing crowd noises,honing that guised dink.
The 67 goal i could never get on the ground it was way to smart for me but it gave me my favourite bit of tv commentary
“Without a doubt The European Cup is on its way to Glasgow”
Think it was ken wolstenholme,i may be wrong but i repeated that statement a million times(much to me neighbours ire :-)))
God bless your family at this time
HH
I fully believe our current manager NFL always gives his level best to deliver the success every Celtic fan craves.
Clearly that’s good enough for some of us, and for others mibby that’s the problem.
JAMES FORREST on 30TH APRIL 2019 1:31 PM
I get that some of Neil’s friends would want him – old pals act.
Totally get that the press want him – to wind him up, put pressure on him etc.
I don’t get why, assuming we all want Celtic to move forward, our supporters would want him?
QUADROPHENIAN
I am not disputing his level of commitment but that doesn’t mean a thing if you are not up to the job.