When Brendan Rodgers left us in the lurch in February 2019 we were fortunate to be able to turn to a known quantity in Neil Lennon as interim boss. His first week was totemic, wins at Hearts and Hibs sent him on the way to the league and Scottish Cup, completing our third successive treble.
Neil took the job on condition he was considered for the permanent position. Celtic agreed, but I doubt they expected he would get the job. Ultimately, hopes of attracting another tier one candidate were dashed, as you and I occasionally observe, Never follow Sinatra. Few wanted to fill Brendan’s sunbed. The choice was between Neil and an earnest candidate who had won promotion to the Premier League in England, before relegation and unemployment. Neil was thought to be the better choice by the club for what would be a pressured season, but it is fair to say there was consternation when the announcement was made after that famous Cup Final win over Hearts.
The fourth consecutive treble, by now an expectation in some places, was not as easy as previous seasons. Newco’s loss-inflated side reached their first final in five years, got to the last 16 of the Europa League and led the domestic table in January. After defeat at Celtic Park to their challengers on 29 December, Celtic won every game for the remainder of the domestic season in league and cup. It was a fantastic response from a manager who looked to be on the ropes.
More impressively, a difficult Europa League group was won; famous victories over Lazio will live long in the memory. Last season, Europe also provided a portent of troubles ahead; an inferior Cluj, eliminated Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers, Copenhagen amazed themselves by doing the same in the Europa knockout rounds. Something was not right.
The capitulation this season has few precedents in our history. Despite retaining all key members of the side, ignominious defeats arrived in waves. Ferencvaros, Sparta Prague, twice, Ross County, twice, Newco at Celtic Park without making an attempt on goal. The Europa League group was an omnishambles until Neil rested players for a dead rubber against Lille and discovered talent waiting in the stands. This helped his cause but not his reputation.
I don’t buy the theory that were disproportionately affected by lack of fans, we made a series of missteps, in magnitude no greater than at the start of Brendan Rodgers last season in charge, but this time our challenger scarcely lost a goal, never mind a game.
With the direction of travel well established, there was a window to change manager in the autumn. When I argued the case to act for the good of Celtic’s season, I was counselled on the need to attract a manager who would work for a club who will sack a manager that’s never lost a trophy and had only lost one league game. There would be some takers, but not the ones you want. I believe this avenue was considered. Our options were John Kennedy as interim or a candidate miles out of their depth.
Among the many emotions Neil Lennon will feel today, I am sure a sense of disappointment in how he was treated by some among us. As well as giving us some great days, the worst that can be said about him is he made several bad football decisions. After what he has been through to be a Celtic player and manager, his treatment in places was atrocious.
I remember Jock Stein’s last four seasons, that produced only one league title, not to mention Gordon Strachan’s four, which resulted in only one league loss. Both were hounded by uncontained angry fans. The only difference now, is that the uncontained have social media to organise around. Neil, is in good company.
He will undoubtedly experience relief, but Neil has opened up previously on his fragilities, I suspect he will be haunted by regret, one of the more pernicious human emotions. However, as the Chairman of the Board once noted, ‘Regrets, I’ve had a few, but too few to mention.. The record shows’, NINE-IN-A-ROW.
Neil, thanks for Lazio, Rennes, the leagues and cups and the many euphoric victories. I cannot imagine how difficult on a personal level this has been, but the very best of health for the future. You will never walk alone.
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JAMES FORREST on 24TH FEBRUARY 2021 12:56 PM
A very good article, although I disagree where you claim the conduct of DD and PL was not a conspiracy to keep the Hun alive, or sabotage. That’s by the by.
Sad day for me. Not because he has been sacked, no because he had to be. I will always have a lot of respect and admiratiom for him. A true Tim, a great player for my beloved club but unfortunately limited skills as a manager. Lenny thanks for your service to my club and yours. YNWA
We have a tendency to make GODS out of ordinary men. Lenny was good for us for a while then he wasn’t.
Whoever the next manager is I wish him every success. If he’s successful then I’m happy cos Celtic will be successful.
But, even if he wins 4 trebles in a row then starts losing due to silly decisions, bad tactics, no tactics, bad management, playing favourites and so on, I’ll want him out. I’m saying this now because that inevitably is going to happen at some stage. EVERY manager has a shelf life. When they’re good, hold on to them. When things start to go wrong and there are no signs of improvement it’s time to move on
Very happy NL is gone. He has my thanks for what he achieved as a player and a manager. It was inevitable, not just for losing the 10IAR but because of the many poor performances and decisions. Who will replace him? I don’t expect a big name and rather than an ex-EPL player with little managerial success or any old ex Celt with no managerial success the only candidate that excites me is Shaun Maloney. He mus thave picked up something being assistant coach to Belgian national team. And surely he woud be interested?
Now that Neil and Big Peter are offski I’d love to find out more of what Dominic’s brief is…………..
Just the bigger picture. :) The immediate stuff is obvs.
Very good effort indeed Pablo.
Respect.
For me, inclusion of the 3rd last paragraph is instructive.
The “uncontained” wanted (Neil) Lennon and (Peter) Lawwell out.
They got their wish so I would have assumed they would be pleased.
Not so, judging by some responses here?
New CEO, new manager, new chapter.
Let’s go.
Hail hail
Keep The Faith
As Paul67 alluded to, our next appointment will either be a potential up-and-coming manager (unproven?) or a quality manager who has just had a bad time of it in his last job and wants to reinvigorate his career and reputation (failure?).
We won’t get an elite manager who is at the top of his game – those managers don’t come to Scotland.
It’s up to the board to scour Europe and find such a coach. Austria and Germany seem to be breeding grounds right now but I’m hoping we’re looking further afield than Jack Ross, Alex Neil and even Steve Clarke.
With the new broom sweepin’ clean hopefully
– It’ll be interesting to hear what the &!!XX !!**Beer Brigada want to XXX&&&?!!! agitate abooooot now!
I really do hope Bankier has no input regards the new manager or DoF.
Bankiebhoy
The lie of 55
Bankiebhoy1…apols
All good things come to an end. All the best Neil and thanks for all you did for the club. Your record as player and manager will stand the test of time. Up there with the other Celtic legends.
FYI people….
On Tuesday evening after my last post on here, my p8ddy account email address was changed and password altered. I’ve notified mods at CQN, and so far have heard nothing.
Given the account email was taken over and p8ddy was used only for CQN, it’s not an account hack from someone seeking my credentials. It’s basically a way of locking me out of the site. Further, from a little research, the order in which things were done would require either SQL DB access or cPanel access on WordPress.
Draw your own conclusions. James Forrest – you especially, my friend, should should be vigilant. For me? Whoever wanted p8ddy that badly? You’re welcome to it. See ya’ll around.
/p
FRITZSONG on 24TH FEBRUARY 2021 2:12 PM
ROCK TREE BHOY on 24TH FEBRUARY 2021 12:49 PM
TIMMY7_NOTED on 24TH FEBRUARY 2021 12:19 PM
Rock Tree Bhoy on 24th February 2021 12:12 pm
Give the man some respect.
________________________________________________________
Was never any good at false platitudes, just so relieved that he’s gone,
_____________________________________________________________________
Don’t under-estimate your own abilities. I’m sure if you turned your mind to it you’d be very good at false platitudes
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Nice of you to say so but I’ve tried it many times in the past and failed, hopeless at it🍀🍀🍀🍀
” Ultimately, hopes of attracting another tier one candidate were dashed, as you and I occasionally observe,..”
Paul67
What you forgot to add was ‘..because no top manager would work for a club where the accountant CEO picks his backroom team and signs players that the manager has never heard of..’
I am sure you meant to state that, but you just forgot to mention it.
When Lenny is asked ,”show us your medals”, he’ll be up there with the best of them .
Good luck and God Bless NFL.
Maybe I’m wrong, but to me this entire fiasco is down to one thing, and one thing only sadly. The “Old Firm” is far bigger than Celtic and Rangers.
Time to ponder
SCHUMMI
JF
👍
Alas poor Lennon I knew him well
For every year he was employed by Celtic, all but the last, were at best successful at worst acceptable
Unfortunately in the world of results NL will not be forgive his last year because of his previous endeavors
He lost the 10
Lawwell will disappear, like NL his previous success will be washed away by his decision to wander into the showers at Hampden
And we are left to pick up the pieces and hope for a brighter future
I can dream that the new incumbents will work in a bit of bridge building.
Our “new” Board and Manager, have some work to do, to galvanise our support as one.
The current protagonists have downed tools and await their fate
But one thing I really hope for, is a liberated, unshackled, free speaking host.
Hopefully when PL vacates the premises, Paul67 will scribe like a blogger with loyalty to no man
Paul we have clashed before on your pathetic (my view) assault on Brendan Rogers
He left the building because PLs imagination could not match BRs ambition
I also wonder who the second candidate was for the job given to NL
If only 2 candidates what does that say about the reputation of working for PL
Neil 90% of your time with us was a credit given the abuse you suffered simply because you were employed by Celtic
Unfortunately the last year has cost us 10 and you your job
A sad ending but a necessary one
67ECW
I love Lenny as some of you may know but yes his decision to go is months too late.
I said after his first appointment it would end in tears. I didn’t want him as manager first time around never mind second. And the way the Board reappointed him in 2019 was wrong on so many levels.
Then there’s the Board’s inability to see after Ferencvaros especially he had to go and resurrect our challenge for 10.
It is unforgivable on both Neil and the Board’s part to have failed to realise change was needed.
Their inability or unwillingness to take action timeously cost us the 10, they gave up the league without a whimper.
All that said I will be forever grateful to Neil for his contribution to our club.
The shit he endured from those outside our club and to those so called supporters has been nothing short of disgraceful.
I will never demean Neil as an individual but he was not the manager we needed to take us forward. He was the right option when Rodgers left but he should not have been reappointed for 2019/2020.
I wish Neil nothing but good things.
Something inside so strong.
Until we meet again…
Keep the Faith!
Hail Hail!
If,and its a big if,we are looking for a top manager,forget the stupid candidates,the bookies candidates,the Aye,that will be right candidates,there is a guy unemployed at the moment,who could be the answer to our prayers.Coincidence has it,they were waxing lyrical about him on BEIN France the other day.Leonardo Jardim.
I won’t say any more on the guy.Just look him up on Google.
LEONARDO JARDIM.
Why did they not say they sacked him? Have they paid him money for today? I f i walked out of my job i would not be paid a day after that. So it looks like they were both haggling to come to a financial pay off. A shambles. they have known he would not be here for next season.. They should have had someone lined up to take over now. check out the handful of plauyers who will still be here next season.
PL won’t care he will have a huge pay-off too.. next person in will need to start from scratch. no squad ,no youth system.. a major shareholder who doesnt want you try to hard .
just keep enough fans happy to shell out for season tickets.
hopefully get a manager who trains players to be fitter than a pub team. apart from a few individuals who must have actually been taking care of themselves. 3 keepers are not good enough sell Barkas for any money. keep Bain as cover for new keeper. One fulll back – taylor. No centre halfs apart from Welsh Julien won’t play again for us.. just hang around long enough to recover from stupid injury. He would have been away this summer if fit. Brown has to go maybe get job as youth coach. keep McGregor (if he isn’t wanting to go) Turnbull , Soro and Henderson. up front keep Forest(if he recovers) Ajeti.. to get fit along with Griff. Thats your squad. All 4 loanees away.
Lenny leaving won’t affect these players. John Kennedy will not get a performance out of them. They want away. They want more money. No new manager will fare different. Some dissidents have soured the others. Sell them all. They dont want to play for Celtic, they will soon find that they are not as highly rated as they think. I dont think Ryan Christie will get as big a team with as big a salary as he thinks. Eddy will struggle as well. No club wants players who are non triers.
Neil has gone, terrible appointment by Peter as we all know. I think he put money and his ego above us if I am honest, the laughing was goading us unless you are a blind man.
I will say there is no way the Dom McKay would be coming if we were bring in a lame duck DOF or Manager. This guy has lots of success and no doubt a huge ego and reputation to protect. Millionaires don’t tend to make a lot of mistakes, the ten was never on.
DD has his old firm back and the box office will be booming.
Thats entertainment. welcome to the new world Bhoys and Ghirls, sold our soul to Sky.
Lampard anyone? Big Ticket pull for this one.
HH
KLV
If we can blow 5 million on the likes of Ajeti and Barkas and then pay them close to a million a year, I don’t understand why some don’t think we can attract a good coach? 2-3 million a year is not top of the premier league, but certainly more money than the vast majority of good European coaches would be on outside of the biggest clubs.
In the Championship, Reuters reported that the highest paid manager was on 3.4 million but the average was about 850,000. And that is in a grossly inflated market.
Martinez is reported to be on 2.5 million euros to take Belgium to next World Cup (it was doubled from 1.2 million after last tournament). That is the same as Gerard’s salary.
Come on Celtic, be brave. Don’t be scared of rejection. Ask the question! M
100% Denia,
KLV
So Neil has gone.
I’ve said all I want about his situation and have already thanked him and wished him well in the future.
We are still in dead man walking teritory. Nobody is in the mood for a familiar interim managers to get the job for good. We want new bling as we are bored with the old toy.
Neil Lennon is no longer around to be the recipient of bile from the begrudger and the boor. But the free-floating vitriol needs to be channeled somewhere.
Give us a new manager we can hate!
Appoint someone whose selections and signings we can call out as bonkers!
Give us this day our dailly two minute hate speech!
I did not get where I am today by being able to empathise with another man’s struggle.
I am entitled to a Punch & Judy show with an ever changing cast of Judy’s that get killed off every two to three years.
Football: The Bread and Circus Years
When Neil Lennon became the Celtic manager a decade or so ago nobody on here could have imagined he would win 10 in a row…
And you know something…..they were right
Deniabhoy
Nobody said we could not get a GOOD coach.
We just pointed out that we could not compete with other clubs who wanted EPL proven level coaches.
Liverpool and Southampton sourced good German coaches.
Hearts and Huddersfield were less successful in that market.
It’s not getting a good coach that’s the problem. It is being able to recognise one who can do it up here under the restrictions that exist up here.
If the guy we are looking at is wanted by Burnley or West Brom or wolves, then jis next house will be in the Midlands of England and not in Central Scotland.
That is an unattractive and harsh reality we have to face squarely
P8DDY
Sorry to hear about your log in lock out. You seem to have resolved it now.
I did not see you wrtite anything that merited that reaction.
Have you written to Paul 67 to see if he can shed a light on what happened?
SAINT STIVS on 24TH FEBRUARY 2021 1:54 PM
And Notthebus.
Many thanks for your answers. It would seem talk about replacing board members is just wishful thinking with no rationale.
Cheers and HH.
SETTING FREE THE BEARS FOR RES. 12 & OSCAR KNOX on 24TH FEBRUARY 2021 3:45 PM
Seriously??? You’re still having a dig at the fans.
I really don’t buy into our negativity about being able to attract a top class manager.
Why did Rafa Benitez go to China. Basically a footballing backwater ranked below Scotland with no European football and on the other side of the world from his adoptive home in Liverpool and his natural home in Spain.
He went for money and for the Challenge.
If we lose 15,000 season tickets we lose £9 m directly.
Rather than say we can’t afford a top class manager, we should change the narrative to :- We can’t afford not to sign a top class manager.
HH.
Who is more worthy of the sack — NL vs Not-Jacinda?
One thing is for sure is that if DT had the Scottish legal system at his disposal he would still be in the White House.
Deep Fried Mars Bar republic — today and it is getting worse.
Is the going rate for an adult season ticket £600?
Seems a bit steep — main Stand price?