Neil Lennon is big and bad enough not to need any help from you or me, but he has a job on his hands. He will prepare a squad to face Hearts twice in the next eight days, which he acquired from Brendan Rodgers in February, and which Brendan largely acquired from Ronny Deila, which is wilting before our eyes.
Injuries abound, the latest, Scott Brown’s broken toe, symptomatic of this season. Brendan tied himself in all sorts of knots in August, revealing fewer of his intentions to you or me than to Moussa Dembele. Dedryck Boyata went on strike during the latter, and unsuccessful, stage of our Champions League qualification campaign. Then Moussa went so off message Brendan decided it was best for him to leave town.
Have you worked in an environment like this? I have not, but these are just the things we know about. I doubt it was an easy shift for Brendan to lift the squad as well as he did for the Europa League, League Cup and League campaign.
Then, to cap it all, Brendan turned on his heels a day before we were due to visit Tynecastle and four days before a Scottish Cup visit to Easter Road. You may have worked in an environment like this, but I doubt you have successfully managed one.
It was demeaning for Neil Lennon to have to defend himself this week. Not to himself, but to the goldfish who are so unaware of the environment or parameters he has worked in.
Celtic won their first treble the day I was born, but I was 34 before they won their third. No club has ever won Treble Trebles in a row. Celtic have never won three consecutive Scottish Cups. The measure of our current success is so great it is difficult to quantify.
In 1995 we finished fourth in the league, two points behind Hibs and three ahead of Falkirk. But we went to the Scottish Cup Final that season and won the most magnificent dreary game played. This is football. Success is neither easy nor linear and it is never entitled. Appreciate these times.
Bring lots of change with you on Sunday, this is your one and only chance to buy a Foundation VIII Badge!
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TRADITIONALIST88;
Hehehe. I am giggling away at that. Nicely played :)
Another name for the rumour mill!
name one manager in the history of the universe whose every signing was fantastic, ??? silence deafening it cant be so bro, life interferes,alongside a myriad of different circumstances.
i would think (know) peter Lawell will listen to what the best candidates plans are. He will also obviously listen
to NFL. The guy with the best vision will have the job.. I would love to have benitez because of his vast experience but hey if it is NFL i will be steadfastly (sounds hunnish ) behind him, 1000%. So if the manager you choose doesnt get the job and you take the huff, then go support(ha ha) another club, because you were never a true tim, and you can take that to the bank. over and over
KOLNCELT.
Heading out for the Blane Valley shortly,I should get into Glasgow around 3.45pm (if the train runs on time) see you when I get in.
Anyone fancying a chat and a drink you’ll be welcome. The Lurking Tim, if your lurking come into the B/V.
James Forrest’s viewpoint on Neil Lennon as long term Manager, is abundantly clear.
It is also a viewpoint shared by many more fans.
By same token, there are a large proportion on CQN that defend Neil Lennon, and would see no wrong in his full-time appointment.
The 2 sides of the fence are clear.
But I fear this week we are going round and round in circles with petty squabbling.
Can we drop the play-ground antics ? Even for just a while.
Cheers
P67 @ PL Propaganda Central
Wrong, wrong, very wrong at just about every level.
PL emptied the LL Upper.
BR filled the LL Upper and brought back the waiting list.
The summer was a shambles because we became a house divided.
We had the horrible sight of two grown men starting a willy waving contest.
BR has a willy to wave.
PL is a football / football as a business eunuch.
BR took the club forward and introduced new standards to our operations.
PL is a second rate property bean counter who wouldn’t know a growth agenda if it came up and shook his hand.
We need huge change this summer at every level.
Yearning for a better yesterday is not the way forward.
James
It was a moment of light hearted banter fella. Made me chuckle and note that we’re not all obsessed with you young lad.
HH
Infamy infamy csc
MADMITCH:
Hard to disagree with much of that fella.
I think Lawwell deserves some credit for where we are, but not as much as Lawwell himself believes he does. He has no problem, for example, claiming the successes of the manager’s as his own … when plainly it isn’t, when plainly he hasn’t backed them as well as he might have.
But within the paramaters for which he actually draws his salary, I have come to a slightly different view of him than the one I previously held. Football is not like any other business, and there are factors involved in finding sponsors, bringing in heavy hitters in finance, rebuilding the back of the house operation, for which he deserves enormous credit.
Indeed, he’s one of the architects of our journey towards becoming a full, modern, European system at every level. One of the things that lets me sleep at night at the moment is the notion that if Lennon isn’t signed up to those systems and doesn’t agree to work with them, he won’t be within miles of getting the appointment on a full-time basis. His choices are adapt or find somewhere else to work.
Lawwell has become an expert on the marketability of football, and Celtic in particular. I lamented his failure to properly build alliances in Europe, but he has taken a great forward with that almost without anyone noticing it. He is at the forefront of opposition to proposed changes to the Champions League.
In short Lawwell is good, and he knows he’s good.
At what he does.
The trouble is when he starts thinking he knows more than he does, and interfering in areas where he is, in fact, below the status of a rank amatuer.
And Brendan is VERY good at what he does, and he too knows it.
The minute those two guys had their first substantive falling out, you feared the worst. Because neither is hard wired for humility, and it took Dermot Desmond to smash their heads together and remind them that although experts in their own fields they both essentially work for him … and he DOES want to see this club progress, and he won’t accept personalities clashing and endangering it.
Yeah, it was a wily-waving contest and it was appalling to watch it. It was selfish on the parts of both men, and I have some sympathy with both of them for the way the other handled it. Two giant egos clashed and Celtic were the victims, and I do wonder if either of them, even now, is willing to acknowledge the part he played in it. That’s another concern for later on.
On balance, I think Peter Lawwell, for all he’s brought to Celtic, has been at the club too long.
I think of this, in some ways, as the moment in The Godfather (the book more than the film) where Vito realises it’s time to start thinking about “succession planning.” The book makes it clear that the political contacts were the most important thing, and Michael nailed them down early.
Forget replacing Scott Brown, we should be thinking beyond Lawwell and that process should have started a wee while ago. I think he’ll probably leave if we do ten. If we don’t – haha, well … he’ll certainly leave.
BIG WAVY:
Now you’ve got me laughing at myself you sod :)
HH fella.
JF
“The notion that I am part of the enormous network of enemies that this club has is risible”
I agree and no idea how you could reach that conclusion. Very delicate ego maybe. Tone down the innuendo and personal attacks on Lenny’s character and you have some good arguments but you seem incapable of doing that.
Sometimes managers need to try and stamp their authority and find out if they have the support of the boardroom, Lenny tried this and quickly found out he did not as did BR. That provides for them a clear direction.
One of your favourite anti Lennon arguments is that he only made 8th with hibs as proof that he is not good enough yet that’s 8th without the dressing room they are now sitting 5th with his team. Supporting the idea that the players have the right to choose the manager is a dangerous position to advocate, it only takes a couple of shitstirrers in a team to ruin a good team.
We also had the rumour that Lenny was approached by Celtic earlier in the season to see if he would take over from BR it the opportunity arose, could that be the source of all the turmoil at hibs, a more likely scenario than anything more sinister alluded to by you. By all means investigate till your hearts content i will predict that nothing will come from it because there is nothing there but the hibs engineering him out the door because he was on the manager/ref forum.
Flannagan wins appeal might as well chuck it Bhoys,
JAMES FORREST on 17TH MAY 2019 1:18 PM
TRADITIONALIST88;
Hehehe. I am giggling away at that. Nicely played :)
Another name for the rumour mill!
=======
But…does he know Scottish football??!
HH
CANAMALAR IT LOOKS LIKE OCD OBSESSION:
Fair points and constructively made.
Hey, I hope there’s nothing there, nothing at all. I hope I’m wrong, I really do.
There is a rumour about how Lennon was approached earlier in the season, whilst still at Hibs. I find that rumour distressing, and worrying, because as I’ve said all along anyone who thinks that he is the best we can get is simply not looking at this realistically or dispassionately.
My doubts are many, and they are not all related to football results and performances. But based purely on football results and performances there is nothing now which merits offering it to him and there was nothing whilst he was manager at Hibs, even when they were playing well, which merits it.
We cannot replace Brendan Rodgers with the ex-Bolton and Hibs manager no matter the manner in which he left those jobs. It’s a massive backward step which his football record does not justify at all.
!!BADA BING!! :
You’re joking, right? Tell me that’s a joke. Lol … that has to be a joke.
Our choice of words often reveal the depth of our knowledge … or ignorance … or that of our desire to be deemed knowledgeable.
Another reason why we need a Celtic man in the dugout next season, even as assistant manager, look at the cheating this season ffs,only going to get worse
Lol I am literally gob-smacked. Gob-smacked.
Disgraceful decision, absolutely unbelievable. That is ridiculous beyond belief.
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 17TH MAY 2019 12:57 PM
@ TIMALOY29 on 17TH MAY 2019 12:51 PM
That’s the point. Brendan signed Coutinho. He was sold for £130m.
Brendan gets a tough time for his signings, but the vast majority were for net to nothing. Of those he spent money on, I would only count Kouassi as a failure and he still may have some utility.
As pointed out in my previous post, Neil also had a mixed record in the transfer market, although we did uncover Wanyama and VVD during his tenure.
___
Once again, you can cherry pick signings here and there. But for every Coutinho there is a Markovic or Kundai Benyu. You can do the same for Neil Lennon’s signings.
Point is, Brendan Rodgers had the recruitment department restructured as he saw fit and things got worse. He appointed a head of recruitment who had a terrible reputation.
But it’s not down to Rodgers?
I lived and worked in the North West of england for 5 years. I’ve worked and been around a lot of Scousers and the guy is considered a joke when it comes to transfers. Maybe that’s too harsh.
But he had a pretty free reign at Celtic (John McGinn aside)
Some Sevco fans have created a petition to ensure that Scotalnd’s compliance officer resigns / gets sacked.
Their bullying and intimidation tactics have obviously paid off.
If Flannagan’s appeal has been won, somebody somewhere has shat it
JF @ 1.51
Sorry cannot agree with your PL analysis — he is useless at an executive / operational level.
He might have contacts at the UEFA level but they are useless if we are not credible on the park.
His attempts at running the club through player and coach talent management have been poor and beyond poor respectively.
Our squad management has been poor.
Our coaching talent management has been poor when he has taken the lead.
Our off field offering is poor and getting worse.
Our engagement with the support is poor.
Our global brand awareness is diminishing.
He is living off the efforts of others.
His wages and bonus payments are a drain on our resources way above what he is worth and what we can afford. Consequently I have no confidence in his ability to take us forward and going by his interweb pals / astroturf noises he has no idea regarding where we should be headed and what will be needed to make us grow. In fact he seems to swim in a sea full of excuses with no ability or desire to take us forward.
Disco lights are as good as it gets regarding his thoughts on our future.
File under not good enough — bean counter out of his depth.
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 17TH MAY 2019 11:56 AM
@ TRADITIONALIST88 on 17TH MAY 2019 11:51 AM
Yep. Especially when there were so many similarities between McGinn and our current captain.
At the time you said he was a replacement for Armstrong, you argued with me that he was a very different player from Broonie.
Regarding PL.
He was out of his depth in 2006.
He was out of his depth in Jan 2009.
He was out of his depth in June 2009.
He was out of his depth in June 2010.
He was out of his depth in June 2014.
He needs to go.
James Forrest
“intellectual dexterity” What a great name for a racehorse por cierto :)))
JF @ lunchtime
You hit on our biggest issue almost by accident.
BR and PL do not work for DD / the Irish Raj.
They work or have worked for CFC — that means us.
DD calls the shots because he has worked the shareholding angle.
He does not own the club but he acts as if he does.
@ TIMALOY29 on 17TH MAY 2019 2:07 PM
Did you intentionally overlook the comments I made on Neil’s signing during his tenure and the club’s transfer policy more generally? It’s below for reference- lot of mistakes in the list below. Of course, Neil made some great signings too.
“Neil signed some great players, but you can also add Pukki, Balde, Boerrigter, Bangura, Juarez- all players signed for £2m region (give or take on either side)- to his list of transfers, nevermind any free transfers who did nothing- Oliver Kapo, Freddy Ljungberg, Ibrahim, Lassad, Mouyokolo and then there are unsuccessful loans.”
How you can bring up Benyu I don’t know. The guy cost £50,000! That’s one weeks’ worth of Brown and Lustig’s combined wages.
As pointed out, a large number of Brendan’s signings were for next to nothing. His signings have to be looked at from the perspective of how much they cost. A scout/manager can identify players but it is down to the budget set by the CEO (which evidently is not very high).
Madmitch
Agree with regards to Peter Lawell.
They have lapped up the last decade. Achieving success in a piss-poor uncompetitive landscape.
Maximum return from minimum investment / input.
All the while, banking numerous Champions-league revenue’s. Selling our top players / assets for big money.
Yet, gauging how little do we need to invest to do enough to get by. Maximum return from minimum outlay.
Has taken his eye completely off of the football objectives. Contends himself purely with financial objectives / KPI’s.
Appointing Brendan Rodgers was a mere blip, in terms of showing any sign of intent. Rodgers tenure was always going to be short-lived from day 1. Supplied with chicken feed as a means to progress / grow the team. £1 million signings here there and everywhere… Compper, Hendry, Hayes…. No ambition, no intent.
Now we are back at square 1
MADMITCH:
That’s interesting actually, and impossible to argue with.
If Flanagan has been allowed to forego a red card for that asault then the game is definitely up.
Neil won’t stand a chance next year, if appointed, let alone any new manager.
We had our chance to blow all this SFA malarkey out the water and reneged on firing the bullet.
“Our day will come”, It’s been and so far gone now, por cierto.
@ CELTIC40ME on 17TH MAY 2019 2:14 PM
Similarities to Broony in terms of their grit and competitiveness. Also, Broony started out as more of an attacking player playing off the right (he scored at CP for Hibs from that position).
With time and experience, he moved more centrally and deeper.
I would wager McGinn’s career would follow a similar path with us (from attacking midfielder to old head at the centre of midfield).
Well I’m looking at it dispassionately, Lenny has a better record in Europe than BR with a lot less resources, that’s the decider for me.
RUGGYGMAN on 17TH MAY 2019 2:09 PM
Some Sevco fans have created a petition to ensure that Scotalnd’s compliance officer resigns / gets sacked.
Their bullying and intimidation tactics have obviously paid off.
If Flannagan’s appeal has been won, somebody somewhere has shat it
Where do i sign mate? The season has started and ended with successful appeals from the huns,where in any other league the ban would be increased.
@ CANAMALAR IT LOOKS LIKE OCD OBSESSION on 17TH MAY 2019 2:32 PM
The European highs were higher with Neil, but unsure if you could say a better record.
Out of his four years, Neil managed post-Christmas football once. But for Sion fielding an ineligible player, we would have had two years without any European football.
The Barcelona year was a fantastic high, but it was very much exceptional. BR was more consistent with his European performances even if he didn’t reach the last 16 of the CL.
Can’t blame Lenny for inheriting a dross squad and lets be honest results under Rodgers were just as bad if not worse. Scott Sinclair, lustig, mikey, izzy, boyata, kouassi, rogic etc …..thanks for the memories lads now off you trot.
Canamalar it looks like ocd obsession
just my humble opinion, but it is difficult to justify a straight apples for apples comparison when reviewing European performance Lennon vs Rodgers
The Champions League landscape has changed significantly even in the last 6 years.
back in 2013 2014 the EPL had 2 guaranteed participants with a potential for 3.
Now the EPL has 4 guaranteed participants with a potential for 5.
This same scenario has benefited Italy, Spain, Germany.
In the last 5 or 6 years years. The big boys have got bigger, and the opportunity to do as well for the likes of Celtic has been reduced.
THE HANDS CANT HIT WHAT THE EYES CANT SEE on 17TH MAY 2019 2:26 PM
As pointed out, a large number of Brendan’s signings were for next to nothing. His signings have to be looked at from the perspective of how much they cost. A scout/manager can identify players but it is down to the budget set by the CEO (which evidently is not very high).
____
To let Sviatchenko go for buttons and replace him with Compper and Hendry was Rodgers’ call. What a massive waste of money those two have been.
Mulumbu, Musonda, Kouassi, Gamboa, Kolo Toure, Dorus De Vries, Gamboa, Morgan, Izzy & Burke were massive wastes of money.
Rodgers success has largely been built off improving the team that was already there. It might be best he isn’t there for the rebuild.
James Forrest & The Hands Can’t Hit
Sorry for the late reply – it’s gardening chore weather
I get the point that the rumblings within the club this season are a genuine cause for angst re next season.
However, we are not finished with this historic season and we have only celebrated a LC win so far. We have a league celebration to indulge in on Sunday and we will have, hopefully, a Treble Treble to add to that in the following week.
It would be foolish to ask people to put their reservations re a future managerial appointment to one side, but I think it is appropriate to ask for perspective to be brought in to play. The decision to appoint or not appoint Neil Lennon will not be made or won on CQN, despite the inflated importance given to it by those who see Paul67 as a Parrot for Peter Lawwell. If Peter Lawwell or Dermot Desmond make their decision on the basis of what people write on Paul’s blog or your’s or other’s, then they are stupider people than I think they are. If they do not know by now, the strength of feeling on either side, within our support, then they are not doing their job. If they think Neil Lennon is the best bet, despite the general feeling of the support, and I am not aware of any reliable polling figures here, then they must have other reasons for the appointment (players want him, unwillingness to accommodate another Brendan situation, or merely biding their time to see this season out before announcing what they’ve been up to), I am willing to let that go.
It is often said that it is the happy clapper side of the fence that is obsessed with boardrooms and balance sheets. I find that ironic as I will be cheering on the players and managers that won us the trophies and titles while mineshafters will be obsessing about what the “suits” are up to, and what the player spend is, and how the Board are going to conspire to stop us winning the title again. Just like they stopped us in the last 7 years- or maybe they’ll find a different way to mess up.
I will happily forego both the SC and the LC if we land the league next year. Europe will sadly, in the current climate, prove too much of a challenge but, with a favourable draw and a bit of luck, we might get a bit better than recent years but I fear not..
Burnley78 has a point- we haven’t given over the right amount of time to celebrate our stunning success because we are so fearful and anxious that the final stages of our success, 9iar and 10iar are possibly threatened.
Ruggyman overstates that point saying:-
“However it only takes a smidgen of foresight to see, that the continued austerity under Lawells watch, is going to bite us in the arse sooner than later.”
We are no longer in “may” or “could” territory; we are prophesying that this will happen.
The main trouble I have with this is it is a repeat Cassandra warning that has been posted regularly during our 8iar years. One day the Wolf will come but, as I have often stated, if it happens, spare me the “I told you so” posts. You told me nothing of the sort- I have always known that a league can be won or lost and I celebrated every one of the past 7 because we managed the former and not the latter. A little humility about forecasting ability might be in order, you would think.
Hard to draw a parallel to any real life situation Paul 67. How could any of us have been in the situation that Lennon finds himself in?
He was faced with the apparent difficulty of winning the league with 8 or so games left and what 6 points clear? It was a gimme.
Boyata had gone and was only filling a jersey. Lennon still picked him until he got injured. He’s gone to Herta Berlin btw. How much were they willing to pay him? Can’t have been that much more than we could afford when you consider what we need to shell out for a replacement.
Maybe Rodgers was saying he could have stayed before contract talks broke down well before the Champions League qualifiers? Rodgers then stuck his heels in and refused to let Boyata go knowing the back up was an embarrassing bidding process for McKenna then winding up with another loan.
As for Lennon. He’s mightily peeved but Lawwell will always use fans reticence for his appointment as an excuse.
Resolution 12 lol lol lol lol lol lol.
No wonder the SFA can do as they please in this country lol.
Big Pedro give me the silver bullet lol lol lol lol.
@ TIMALOY29 on 17TH MAY 2019 2:42 PM
Again, you don’t acknowledge any of the money wasted during Neil’s first stint? You hold BR’s signings to a hire standard than Neil’s.
Agree re Sviatchencko.
Mulumbu (free), Musonda (loan), Kouassi(£3m?), Gamboa (£1m), Kolo Toure (free), Dorus De Vries (free), Morgan (£300k), Izzy (free) & Burke (loan) were massive wastes of money.
The reason the above are a waste of money is because they (save for Kouassi) barely cost anything. We are reticent to spend and it is costing us.