WHEN Celtic secure their 44th top-flight league title – and it's odds on they will against Inverness Caledonian Thistle this afternoon – don't tell Neil Lennon he can't get no satisfaction.
Without wanting to tempt fate ahead of the conclusion of the SPL, the Northern Irishman gave short shrift yesterday to the suggestion in an online column from former Parkhead favourite Andy Walker that the 2012-13 crown would somehow be less pleasing than the others, given the absence of their Old Firm rivals. Quite apart from anything else, there is no better reason to treasure the eighth championship win of his time at the club as player, coach and manager as the lingering trauma of those last-day title losses in 2001 and 2003.
"Whenever it comes it is just a memorable occasion and I want the players to take it all in," said Lennon, whose team can cross the line in front of their own supporters for the first time since 2006. "They might never get the chance to win the championship again. People will say it has been easier this year without the competition of Rangers, but it's never easy.
"I saw Andy Walker's comments, just total nonsense about it being less satisfying," he added. "When you win the title it is the best feeling in football you can have because it is a season's preparation, work, all coming to fruition. It is good for a player to have on his record. When you don't have it you realise what you have lost. I lost two titles on the last day, one that was in our hands, and one we couldn't do much about. The feeling after that was one of total despair. Andy has won a title so he should know how special it is."
Having said that, the raw statistics of this title win tell their own story. Before today, even in the absence of Rangers, the Parkhead side have drawn six and lost six, and are fated to secure their lowest points tally under Lennon. They have also conceded more goals and are still a few goals shy of their best goals tally, and the Northern Irishman admits that at times he has had to be creative to keep his team on their toes. "Keeping them motivated has been a difficult thing," Lennon said.
"I know we have lost six games this year. That is not ideal. We have conceded more goals than we have done in the previous two seasons. Our points total will be lower than it has been in the previous two seasons. On the plus side, we had a brilliant European run, totally beyond anyone's expectations and brought the supporters some nights they will never forget, and the players will ever forget in their careers. So there are pros and cons."
Although the upcoming William Hill Scottish Cup final provides a chance for the club to savour more homespun glory, it is understandable if those Champions League nights should dominate everything else when the story of this season is written. As for the domestic daily grind, in Lennon's mind the high watermark came in thumping victories against St Mirren and Hearts, while a pleasing coda was the epic comeback which sealed a 4-3 win against Aberdeen.
The negatives reached a nadir in home defeats to the likes of Kilmarnock and Inverness CT and a 3-2 disaster in Dingwall. "In my time here, we have won seven titles, and this could be the eighth," he said. "In five of those we have won the league by 17 or 18 points – with Rangers in the league. I look at Martin O'Neill's first two title wins – in 2004 we won the league by a landslide, we won it by a landslide in 2001-02.
"Under Gordon Strachan one year we won it by a mile, so to say that it has not been competitive without Rangers is false. Although having Rangers does make it better, or more interesting for people.
"There has been a massive drop in intensity from the Champions League games, but there always has been, even from when I played," he added. "It is difficult if you've played Juventus or Barcelona to lift yourself, because those games are so glamorous and full of quality. I'm not disparaging the following games, it is just a natural feeling to find it hard to motivate yourself so quickly from what would be described as a mundane league game."
Looking beyond any title celebrations, Lennon is adamant Celtic will be better adjusted to the demands of the post-Rangers SPL landscape next season. "If we do qualify for the Champions League we will look at concentrating a lot on European games, but concentrating a bit more on what's coming after them too."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article