Neil Lennon

Hope some of the players that have played a stupid amount of games get a good rest between now and the end of the season, lenny couldn't really do it so much last year as he was auditioning for the job but with the qualifiers coming early and potentially a few players away at the euros or Olympics he needs to think ahead. Best thing for 10iar would be Scotland losing the qualifier

 

NL:
"It was an emphatic performance. A clean sheet and five goals so I can’t ask for any more. I’m very happy for
@Leighgriff09
, he seemed like his old self today."

NL: It’s great to see my strikers scoring, they are natural strikers and a bit of game time for other players as well so it’s been a good day."



NL: They want to get the ball back. They are hungry. We knew how important the game was today, you could see that in the body language and the level of performance.

NL: on Elhamed: "He looked good and for him to get some minutes and the ovation he got from the fans will be music to his ears.

 

We should offer the man a 5 year contract before next match!

 

NL: I’m not a health expert, the decision to postpone the league has come from people far more well-qualified than me. The public health is the most important thing. If that decision has been taken then we back it.”


NL: This virus has taken people. It’s taken loved ones. We’ve got players from all around the world, and these players are our priority and have been since this outbreak. We have to put everything sporting aside. Your health is your wealth, at the end of the day


NL: It’s been business as usual, we were training today and then we got word that the game was cancelled. We’ve given the players a few days off until we can sit down on Monday and see where we go from here.”


NL: The SPFL took the lead from the EPL, and I think it was inevitable that Scotland would follow England’s lead following their decision to postpone. We’ve had briefings every morning. We’ve been well briefed as well as we possibly can.”


NL: on if league was to get cancelled: “We’d be the champions and rightly so. We’re 13 points clear. In most of the other leagues, I’d say it’s the same. Dundee United would need to be promoted as well.”

NL: If you’re talking about the armageddon of the league being cancelled or stopped, then it should go on the average points total, which would make us champions and rightly so. We’re over 30 games into the season, they’re not going to take that away from us.”

NL: We’ll hopefully have a bit more information on Monday, get them back in Tuesday, training and back into some sort of rhythm. We don’t know how to gauge it, we’ll talk to the experts and medical staff and take it from there.”

NL: You want your fans in there to back you, they play such a big part. The most important people in football are the players and the supporters. I’m not a big lover of games behind closed doors, but if it’s needs must then so be it.”

NL: The players are disappointed that the game is cancelled, but there’s not a lot that they can do. We have to be patient. If we can get them training, that’ll be where we start. We need to be guided by the government and the authorities.”

NL: don’t know what happens from here. If it was to stop now, I would doubt very much that they could call it null and void, we’ve played over 30 games which is well over two-thirds of the season, so we should be declared champions.”

 

NEIL Lennon has given a message of support to the Celtic Family at this very difficult time, with the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Speaking to the official club website, the Celtic manager said: “This is obviously a very worrying time for all of us, and I just want to pass on my thoughts and best wishes to all of our supporters on behalf of all the coaching staff and players here at Celtic.

“We want everyone to stay safe, to follow the expert advice that has been given and to keep looking after each other and out for each other. That’s what all of us are doing with our families.

“Of course, we’re all part of the wider Celtic Family too. It’s something that we’re all proud of, and everyone at the club appreciates the support our fans always give us.

“The Celtic Family is a worldwide one, and we know the Celtic fans will continue to show the solidarity and togetherness for which they’re renowned throughout football.

“This is a difficult time for everyone and the priority for all of us is to look after ourselves and to look after each other, but I also know that everyone here at the club is looking forward to when we are able to get back playing in front of our fantastic supporters at Celtic Park.

“Take care. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

 

WHEN the Celtic players headed off to Dubai for their winter training camp, one of the things they took with them was the sense of disappointment at the last result of 2019 – a derby defeat at home.

What they brought back was a determination to reassert their dominance of the Premiership campaign, and they have done so in emphatic style.

Eleven league wins and just one draw from their 12 league fixtures has seen Neil Lennon’s side establish a commanding 13-point lead at the top of the table, while Scottish Cup wins over Partick Thistle, Clyde and St Johnstone set up a semi-final clash with Aberdeen.

Not surprisingly, the Celtic manager has been delighted with his side’s form this season, and particularly since the return to action in 2020.

“What’s pleased me has been the quality of our performances,” Neil Lennon told the official Celtic website. “Even if you look at our last game against St Mirren when we beat them 5-0. To do that at this stage of the season is pretty impressive because we were struggling to score goals this time last year, so the amount of goals we’ve scored and the amount of wins we’ve racked up is impressive.

“And since the turn of the year, to go unbeaten domestically and only drop two points is fantastic, and we reached the semi-final of the Scottish Cup – we’ve already won the League Cup – so it just shows how well we’ve played.

“You can’t take that for granted, and we had the European campaign, on top of that. It’s been pretty impressive, to say the least, from the players and I’m so proud of them.”

Celtic are 10 points better off in the Premiership this season after 30 games, compared to last season, while they have scored an incredible 141 competitive goals across all competitions, 37 more than the 2018/19 campaign.

Neil Lennon said: “That’s absolutely brilliant and it’s what we were looking for – myself, John, Damien and Woodsy – as a backroom team. We knew there were more goals in them. We train that way, to be positive and on the front foot.

“The only disappointment to me, really, was going out of Europe the way we did. That was really disappointing because we really felt we could make inroads into the competition.

“But our record for 2020 would stand up to any club in Europe or even throughout the world, and it’s not the easiest thing to do because teams are set up to stop you scoring or try to nullify you in any way they can, so I can’t ask any more of the players.

“During the winter break, we told them to hold on to the feeling of disappointment they had, and the response has been emphatic to the point where we’re 13 points clear at the top of the table and in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

“So we’ve been really, really good in terms of consistency, and the mindset has been good as well.

“It’s how I want to see Celtic playing. We’re there to entertain the fans, and that’s in the DNA of the club, so the players have responded in the right way, there’s no question.”

 

Wouldn’t want anyone else in charge right now tbh.

Genuinely one of us!

 

Decent wee interview

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52075397

 

NEIL LENNON has revealed Celtic players could take wage cuts in the coming weeks.

The Hoops are Scotland's wealthiest club and have huge cash reserves in the bank.


But Celtic also have the biggest wage bill and Lennon admits they are not immune from the coronavirus crisis.

Asked if cuts were a possibility, he said: “Yes.


We’ll probably have a look at things at the end of April in terms of the club as a whole.

"Peter Lawwell and the board will review it then. At the minute, we are okay.


For Scottish clubs, this is the time of the year when they are putting out season tickets.

"But obviously the general public are very wary and reluctant to part with their money.


They don’t know what they are paying for yet and we still haven’t finished this season yet.

"We don’t know whether that’s going to happen or not. We need to get a decision sooner rather than later on that.


There has to be a backstop date at some stage so we can start to plan ahead.

“We’re financially robust, but are still feeling the hit.


We’ve been told by the chief medical officer here it’s going to be 12 to 13 weeks in this situation.

"So it’s really difficult to plan for the future and you have to prepare yourself as best you can for whatever the outcome is going to be.”

Assets like Odsonne Edouard give Celtic an insurance policy - but Lennon hopes to keep him for next season.


He told BBC Five Live: “The landscape has changed from where we were a month ago to now. There’s no doubt about that.

“It’s uncertain. Ideally you would like to keep your prized assets for at least another year anyway.

“If the market galvanises itself again, you could look at it then.

“There’s no question there’s going to be interest in him.

"But, ideally, we’d like to tie him down to another year on top of what he has already and keep him here.”

 

Love the suns headline

“money worries”

these * are sensationising all sorts from Celtic to CORONAVIRUS too!

 

Wage cut is a good idea. Barcelona are looking at taking a 70% one. Our players especially high earners should be taking ones. Would help to cover non playing staff on average incomes to be fully paid still even if they are not working. Players shouldnt have a problem going a few months on half pay.

 

Class.
He’s like me and you

 

Never in any doubt.

 

ON his day, the skill and ability Lubomir Moravcik possessed on the pitch made him unplayable. He played in a team of winners, and rubbed shoulders with the likes of Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton and the Celtic manager Neil Lennon.

As a combative midfielder, the latter played a very different role to Lubo in Martin O’Neill’s side, but the Slovakian reckons it was the Irishman’s style of play that helped him transition into management so smoothly.

“Whenever any player reaches a certain age, when they’re on the cusp of retirement, everyone starts thinking about them moving into coaching,” said Moravcik in an exclusive interview with the official Celtic website. “Not every player wants to make that jump, but a lot of them do and don’t succeed.

“Out of that team we played in, there were so many good players, and yet only Lenny and Paul Lambert have gone on to become top-level managers. It’s not always the case that the best players go on to become the best managers.

“While both Lenny and Paul were fantastic players, the fact that they did so much organising on the pitch might be why they’ve moved into management so seamlessly. As a player, Neil Lennon was brilliant at organising the game, and, of course, he’s brilliant at doing that now as a manager.

“As a player, he had a vast understanding of how to organise the game, and now as a coach, he carries that with him into the role.”

Like Scott Brown with Neil Lennon today, Moravcik believes the current Hoops boss and his one-time manager Martin O’Neill shared a similar bond and respect for one another.

Moravcik said he himself learned so much under Martin O’Neill, and while he expects the same applies to Neil Lennon, the Irishman has put his own spin on management at Celtic in his two spells in charge over the last decade.

He added: “Learning from Martin O’Neill was a fantastic learning experience for anybody that worked under him, and Neil and him had a bond and an understanding both on and off the pitch.

“Martin was such an inspiration for that team as a whole – for me, for Henrik, for Neil, for every player. He had so many qualities as a human, as a person, as a manager. He was also confident, and had his idea of how things should be done, and everyone should follow it in order to achieve success.”

 

NEIL Lennon, like everyone else at Celtic, is full of admiration for everyone in the NHS and all the key workers who are doing such vital work during the coronavirus crisis.

And speaking to Celtic TV, the Hoops boss offered a message of thanks and support at this time.

“They’re putting their lives on the line,” Neil Lennon said. “This is a virus which is new and there is no ready-made cure for it, and these people are going out there helping to save lives, day in, day out, and putting their own life and health at risk, and it’s amazing.

“Probably things that we took for granted for a long time in our lives has all suddenly changed, and my thoughts and prayers are with them all the way, and the Celtic support would echo that as well.

“We’re hoping that this comes to an end sooner rather than later, and we can get back to some sort of normality for all of us, but these people deserve our unbelievable thanks and gratitude.”