I see that Neil Lennon sparked a fearsome debate yesterday. He offered a critique of the tactics and that didn’t sit well with certain people. The thing is, Lennon has only broken one taboo and it’s one he’s broken before; a convention that ex-Celtic managers do not criticise the guy who currently sits in the dugout.
There is merit to being critical of Lennon over this, but I’ll be honest, I thought all he did last night was offer an honest-to-God analysis of the situation without sugar-coating. He wasn’t being critical for the sake of it or to undermine the manager, he was speaking as a guy who has been in the dugout himself … and who has gotten results in Europe.
What have I said on this blog over and again? Lennon is not a manager but he’s an excellent pundit and a great analyser of the game. He might not be quite good enough to entrust with the wide array of decisions that a manager needs to take in his day to day job, but as a a pundit he is exceptional because of his experience as a coach, experience which almost none of those he sits in the studio with can boast.
He is perfectly qualified to talk honestly and openly about our tactical approach last night, and whatever else people might say, the idea that he did it out of some kind of agenda against the club – and there are many who tick that box – is preposterous and we all know that it is. Celtic has few better friends in the media.
His analysis is spot on too. He knows we were too cavalier and he’s assessing that as a former boss as well as a pundit. That his analysis happens to dovetail nearly perfectly with all of our own is not a coincidence; it does not mean that we are smarter than Rodgers or that Lennon is. It means that Rodgers has a blindspot when it comes to this stuff and he would hardly be alone in the annals of football.
Everyone knows that I am usually not shy about criticising Lennon when it comes to his management skills, but in my view a guy who has worked in the dugout for the length of time Lennon has is vastly better pundit than someone like McFadden or one of the ex-Ibrox players who couldn’t even land a coaching gig.
Sutton had his time as a boss and couldn’t cut it. Others, like Lambert, tried and failed at it. Lennon has had success and he’s coached against top teams in this competition and he is more than qualified to discuss this stuff smartly and that he’s an ex-Celtic boss should not influence how we respond to it one bit.
We can discuss the convention itself all day long and try to decide whether we believe it should be respected, but there is something to be said for previous bosses not commenting on the work of those who do sit in the hot-seat at any given time; for all that, if Lennon was to keep to that he’d only be doing half a job.
I’ve complained about him doing this before, but only when it has appeared gratuitous. This was not that. This was a man who has been there, seen it and done it doing a cold blooded analysis of where we came up short and whilst I acknowledge fully that Lennon has his own bad European results on his record he’s more than qualified to offer a view on what went wrong the other night … and so I think giving him stick is too much, and people are getting a little sensitive over it. I only care that he wasn’t wrong.
This is what I mean about Lennon; when he’s doing the commentary bit. He’s great at it and he should stick to it, because it’s what he was cut out for and his experience as a manager gives him greater qualifications to do to that job than most of the clowns who sit in studios around the country … and he cares about Celtic.
I’m late to reaching this conclusion, about how ex-Celtic bosses should be allowed to offer a critique of the guy in the chair at the present time, as long as it is not gratuitous or unfair and this was neither of those. It was measured and reasonable … if that also made it devastating that’s a sign that he was on the right road.
That match on Tues just brought back to me Rodgers first tenure at the club. Amazing domestically, shite in Europe. I was in Munich 7 years ago and also in Paris for PSG. I remember saying at the time I would rather have Lennon in charge for European matches because he knows the capabilities of our players and got results. We simply arent good enough to go toe to toe with these clubs at the elite level. We will get punished time and again due to our lack of competition at home. We always will be too big for Scotland, not good enough for Europe
Aye – I guess us Celtic supporters (unlike our polar opposite in Sevco fans) are definitely more adept to facing the unpalatable truths in life than The comforting blanket lies that Sevco fans thrive on…
But given that Lenny was one of The men who blew the ten – I reckon today’s comments board will be pretty split down the middle with the For and Against Lenny camp !
Like it or not, he ‘s entitled tae his opinion. Also, one particular pro ibrox hack sayin today ( accordin tae somebody else as usual ), Celtic should be able tae make their mark in Europe ‘just like rangers’ ! Whit utter shite ! Whit, by becomin the team with the worst CL side in history. How arrogant and laughablel is that ?! The day we have tae look at them for inspiration or example in Europe, is the day we should chuck it. A few good past results and a Europa league run riddled with luck doesnae make them some sort of ‘force’ in Europe. Typical of the overhyped, deluded garbage they’re partial tae.
I also think he was very careful in how he phrased his critiques – he specifically avoided critiquing Rodgers directly rather he said “we’re too open, we need someone to get closer to Brandt, we need to stop giving the ball away cheaply and particularly in/around our box” etc. That’s simply pointing out the issues and problems that were occurring without directly criticising the incumbent manager. Lennon and Rodgers have a lot of mutual respect so he would never criticise him directly as he knows how difficult the Celtic job is media wise already without having ex- Celtic managers piling in also.
Spot on. Lennon is a Celtic legend and is overly criticised ….he won trebles and titles and big wins in Europe. Brendan is terrific. Domesticallly peerless. Best we’ve had since Stein or ONeil ….but he could learn a thing or two from Neil and Strachan and many others on how to set up an average team to play Wprld Class teams. We need to be more cautious against the very best.
I agree that Lennon was pretty accurate in his analysis. He is paid to forensically pick a match apart with his expert knowledge and that’s what he unsentimentally did. Had he claimed “Celtic were just unlucky, they had two dodgy penalties given against them and the five other goals were totally against the run of play” he’d have been a laughing stock – a Kris Boyd level pundit. Stevie Wonder could see we’d set up to play far too cavalier against proper champions league royalty in their own back yard and the result was as predictable as it was painful – Geoffrey Howe’s cricket analogy in his resignation speech sprang to mind on Tuesday night, and that’s not good.
What is less clear is whether the dreadful result and the perfectly justified criticism of his tactical approach will influence Rodgers’ decision making for equally difficult forthcoming matches in any way. Unfortunately I think I can guess….. he is not a bad or a naive coach (how could he be with the level of domestic domination we have?) but he is a football purist and a stubborn man who does not bend to the will of others. Lennon, for all his faults as a coach, was a born pragmatist who had no ideological issue with setting up to absorb pressure and hit on the break – not just away in Europe but even at home to Barcelona and during the 2019 League Cup Final when his approach was either ‘rope-a-dope’ or he just got lucky when Slippy panicked and made the wrong substitutions. Rodgers could maybe do with trying out playing ugly football to get results in tough places, for his own benefit as much as anything – after all no coach ever enhanced their reputation by getting scudded 7-1.
James, I think you’re spot on about Lennon and his stint on Tuesday.
He is an excellent summariser and his comments were continually bang on the money.
It might not sit well with some of our support, but Lennon has the benefit of saying and commenting on what the majority of us are watching from behind the settee.
A lot of these so called experts talk the biggest load of guff imaginable and most of them would have a completely condescending attitude towards fan opinion.
The general consensus from them and many managers, is that most fans don’t understand the game or the set up/tactics involved.
They couldn’t be further from the truth, even although we all recognise it’s a tough gig!
Neil Lennon is one of those former players and managers than can properly articulate his views on how, why and where a game is going. That is what he excels at, and where he should finish his career !!! HH
This must be about the best blog you have ever written James, absolutely spot on and brilliant. I always enjoy your blogs and agree with the vast majority of them.
Agree 100%, Lennon’s record in Europe was pretty good, his analysis during Tuesday night’s game was spot on, we had to change things probably at 2-1 and definitely at 3-1.
In retrospect, I think the frightening thing was that we could have lost that game by a lot more, in fact I think Schmeichel and to a lesser extent Scales saved us from what could have been the most embarrassing result in our history. My 1st game watching Celtic was in 1950 and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a Celtic team so panicky and overrun.
Our M/F were completely dominated by the opposition and our dodgy defence without CCV couldn’t cope, with absolutely no cover coming from the M/F in front of them.
There is still everything to play for this season including in Europe, The Manager, coaching staff and players have got to stand up and be counted from Sunday onwards, never again can a Celtic team be left so open and exposed as happened on Tuesday night.
I’ve no problem with Lennon giving his honest opinion and that’s what it was. He’s entitled to it and he’s obviously passionate about the club. Celtic will have to accept some stick and some hard truths after that performance but we also need to put it behind us and get on with things. We’ll find out something about this team against Atalanta like are we capable and prepared to defend as a team?
What the ginger whinger thinks about the current Celtic doesn’t bother me, it was through his ineptitude that we didn’t get 10 and I will never ever forget that fact.
I agree he has never been a manager, he has failed everywhere, even with us the first time, no trebles when there was no rangers was unforgivable ???