Neil Lennon

This worries me a lot TBH. There is no doubting Brendan is an insanely good coach and he continued Lenny and Ronny's good work bringing through youth (with one proviso that I'll mention below); but when it comes to signings with an eye to the future, he has leaned heavily on previous managers (Ajer, Rogic, Dembele) or Lawwell's contats (Edouard, Ntcham).

It scares me a little, because it took us a long time to go from investing 2 or 3 million and selling for 12 to investing 5 or 9 million and hopefully selling for maybe double that; but the lack of investment for the future since Rodgers decided he was off about a year ago means the board will have to take a hit to keep that going and I don't have confidence in them to do that. A concrete example: when we sold Dembele last summer, Lawwell's contacts had already got Edouard on a loan with a clause to buy him and thankfully we were able to do that. That's great business and far from a downgrade. Thing is, where is this year's Eddy? One good CL campaign (which I 100% think he has in him TBH) and Eddy will be off next summer. We need to be looking for a replacement this summer; but it's hard to see the board backing that, given that Brendan Rodgers left us needing almost a whole defence as a priority.

Ronny did go scattergun, I know. He had a tendency to panic at times (I actually think at a club like Celtic, that was his biggest problem) and I'm not going to claim his signing record was as good as Lenny's, because it wasn't. However in his defence I have to say that he also quietly made some very astute investments, particularly Ajer, Armstrong and Dembele; but I think we also got a lot of money for Johansen (I know he arrived before Ronny; but he was soooo Ronny's shout- he played for Ronny's club and we know Ronny was coming here as Lenny's assistant. It's too much of a coincidence) and should have got a lot for Boyata (although I suspect Boyata was probably Lawwell's).

In contrast to Lenny, Ronny, WGS, etc, it's clear that Brendan's horizon for Celtic investments was precisely his own tenure. It's now clear to me why he was willing to run KT and CM into the ground and why the club made no investments except Lawwell's and why it started raining short-term loans with no option to buy. At the time it actually mystified me, given that the board has proven they are willing to invest substantially now, just the sheer lack of activity last summer. A couple of wiser heads explained that Rodgers was off and didn't care about investing for Celtic, but seeing is believing.

Whoever gets the job, he'll have to deal with a lot of problems that Rodgers exported into the future once he knew he was off and will probably get the blame for them (just as Rodgers takes the credit for Dembele at the other end of his tenure). Without denying his insane ability as a coach, it has been interesting and illuminating to watch how an ambitious manager (not just in football) can enhance his or her CV by importing credit from the previous manager and exporting debits to the following one. It's something I'd read about before, but seeing it at Celtic has been an education.

The board really have to take the hit here and make two summers worth of investments in one summer window. Will they do it though?

 

Played properly, the team won't need to much messing about.

Keeping Lustig won't be so bad, sign a RB let Lustig deputise as a CB if and when needed behind Ajer and a new CB. An old head looking for a decent final salary for LB will be fine to give KT a little bit of competition and rest when needed.

LW to challenge Sinclair, perhaps Weah's loan can be extended for another season.

I think we can do 6 signings overall and only 2 need to be straight up, ready to go first team starters in CB and RB. Every other position has a bit of flexibility given the talent already there.

 

I largely agree mate, outwith Johansen, it was apparently our scouting of Johansen that alerted us to Ronny.

 

No problem bud I was doubting myself for a min ha ha

 

You do make a great valid point!

 

I stand corrected, then. More good work from Lenny.

 

NEIL LENNON is on Fulham’s radar to be their next boss.

SunSport understands the already-relegated Cottagers have placed the stand-in Celticmanager on a list of candidates to succeed Scott Parker.

Kilmarnock gaffer Steve Clarke is considered the front-runner for the hotseat as Fulham prepare for life back in the Championship.

Parker is currently in charge only on a caretaker basis, but would be keen to take the reins permanently at the club where he finished a stellar playing career.


But Lennon’s record at Hibs and in two spells at Celtic have also caught the eye of Fulham chiefs, including billionaire owner Shahid Khan.

Lenny, 47, made a shock Celtic return in February with a brief to maintain the team’s push towards an historic treble Treble.


The Northern Irishman — who won three straight titles and two Scottish Cups in his first spell as Hoops gaffer, plus a place in the Champions League last 16 — has guided the side to an eight-game unbeaten run and a place in the Scottish Cup Final.

But it remains unclear if Celtic’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond and chief executive Peter Lawwell will give him the post for the long term.

Lennon would only seriously consider another club position if he didn’t land the Parkhead gig on a permanent basis.

But if that’s not to be, he would be open to a second chance to prove himself down south after a difficult two years at financially-crippled Bolton ended in 2016 with a ‘mutual consent’ exit.

 

NL: “Two wins will get us over the line. The league is the priority now. We were very good last weekend and we’ll be looking for more of the same this weekend

NL: “
@ryanchristie2
, as you know, had surgery. There are multiple fractures - eye socket, jaw and cheekbone. He’s come through it okay. His welfare is paramount, so we’ll be doubtful about him for the rest of the season.”


NL: “
@Jack_Hendry2
tore his hamstring in the Reserve game on Monday so he’ll most likely be out for the rest of the season.

NL: “I’m doing my job and I’m enjoying it. It’s difficult but I’m relishing the challenge. The players are responding well and that’s great. The team comes first, not my future or job prospects.

NL on #HIBCEL: “I’m looking forward to it although Hibs are on great form. We want to try and win and win well, off the back of a great performance against Aberdeen.

 

Neil Lennon has hit out at the mole leaking team news ahead of big games for Celtic.

The biggest of those was ahead of the 2-1 win over Rangers at Celtic Park when the leaked team was spot on about Jonny Hayes starting for the Hoops.


The Irishman did start and had a good first half before being hauled off at the break.

It was well known among supporters in the build-up that Scott Sinclair, Filip Benkovic and Jeremy Toljan wouldn't be involved in the Celtic starting line-up with news leaking online



There was also team news leaked ahead of the midweek trip to St Mirren and the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen.

And when asked about the leak, Lennon said: "Really not happy. Someone is letting us down."

 

Thank * for that..

He must know who he/they are surely..

Some bad apples amongst the squad. I've seen for the last few hun game's at least...our exact lineup being stuck on follow follow a day before. Scott Allan probably tells Halliday for starters..

 

Said it wasn’t a player.

 

Dont think he’d tell us if it was tbh.

 

You think.

He spoke about towards the end of his pc today.

 

He's certainly not grabbing it with both hands .

 

More tedious * not playing at all like a team that needs to win the title.