Celtic's already desperate SPL title hopes were salvaged thanks to a manager called Lennon this weekend. I'm not talking about Neil, who saw his Hoops side dice with disaster in Kilmarnock by impersonating Craig Levein's Scotland in Alicante and giving their opponents a three goal start before bothering to turn up. Instead it was St. Mirren coach Danny Lennon, and the late equalizer by veteran Steven Thompson at Ibrox that kept the gap between the Old Firm at 10 points, with Rangers having played a game extra.
It was actually St. Mirren who ended the reign of Tony Mowbray at Celtic Park by humping them 4-0 in Paisley, and had Killie held on to their three goal half time lead at Rugby Park, it's reasonable to speculate that Lennon's nineteen month reign at the club might have been at an end. Defeat in France against Rennes on Thursday, which would effectively mean Europa League elimination, and then a failure to beat Aberdeen at Celtic Park three days later, could be the final nail in the coffin.
Lennon must at least be relieved that the next league match is not against a gritty, determined opponent, but against a Dons side who have avoided league defeat at Celtic Park only once in seven years and who shipped 21 goals in 5 matches against Lennon's side last season.
But the first encounter between Celtic and Aberdeen this season, at Pittodrie in August, has proven somewhat prophetic of the problems Lennon has faced. Craig Brown's side were in a terrible mess, with a casualty list reminiscent of the Somme and carrying as much threat as a kitten in a paper bag. Yet the visitors toiled against an organized defence, and having failed to find an early breakthrough, showed all the frustration of someone who can't get the lid of a pickle jar. They had completely run out of ideas, and only found a winner thanks to a catastrophic blunder from Aberdeen captain Ricky Foster (I remember my father shouting "he should be shot for that!" at the television) that gifted Anthony Stokes a goal.
That game was also the first sign of something else that has become apparent this season; Kris Commons, who was in irresistible form in the second half of the season, has regressed dramatically; an unkind (and accurate) person would say that regression is inversely proportional with his waist circumference. Without that spark, Celtic are hugely lacking a creative spark in the final third and are finding it immensely difficult to break down organized defences. And the frustration builds up quickly, resulting in moments such as Commons' sending off at Tynecastle for a stupid, reckless challenge.
The problems up front, though, pale in comparison to what's happening at the other end of the pitch; someone said of the Scotland team recently that they had 'constipation at the front and diarrhoea at the back' but this applies to Celtic too. The backline is just an absolute shambles, aside from goalkeeper Fraser Forster, and has appeared so ever since the highly rated left back Emilio Izaguirre broke his ankle. The Honduran's replacement, Badr El Kaddouri, is enduring such a difficult settling-in period that it seems certain his loan deal will not be extended beyond January. On the other side, Lennon appears determined to keep playing the raw Welshman Adam Matthews, even despite Mark Wilson's solidity last season.
But the biggest concern lies in the centre of the defence, where there has been so much slapstick that it would have been cut from a Naked Gun film for being too farcical for belief. And at the heart of this has been Daniel Majstorovic, the Kojak-alike Swede who last year provided experience and leadership, but who this season has been as reliable as a used British Leyland car. The only explanation for his continued presence in the side is surely the injuries that prevented anyone else from being consistently available - though, out of his multiple partners in crime this season, Glenn Loovens has looked like Majstorovic with a huge blonde wig and Kelvin Wilson appears to still be getting over the shock of finding the SPL is not a doddle compared to the Championship. At Kilmarnock, Charlie Mulgrew was the tweedle-dum to Majstorovic's tweedle-dee; Mulgrew has played at left-back, left-midfield and centre-midfield for Celtic this year, and played exactly like what he was - a player out of position.
So Celtic can't defend, and can't attack. They have no Plan B for when matches become difficult. Lennon's own actions - criticizing players in post-match interviews, his touchline tantrums - do not, at least from the outside, seem a good way to foster a strong team spirit, though the Kilmarnock comeback suggests there is still a bit of pride there. But, after more than a year and a half of Neil Lennon, and investment in the playing squad which far outweighs that at Ibrox, Celtic appear to be roughly back where they were after Tony Mowbray's Paisley humiliation.
For me, Neil Lennon's demise as Celtic manager is now inevitable. I just can't see how he is going to turn around this team. As I tweeted after the Hearts defeat, the only way Rangers will not win the SPL title is by getting a points deduction for entering administration.
The question is whether he will last until the next Old Firm at Celtic Park at the end of December. I don't think he will. And I'm relishing the thought of him coming back up to Inverness in a month's time, even though we're bottom of the league...it would be somewhat apt if it was Caley Thistle who once more etched their name into the Celtic history books.
L.
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