Inability to Finnish leaves Lennon with European concerns

Michael Grant

Chief football writer

Wednesday 25 July 2012

WHEN it came to choosing where to learn his lesson, Neil Lennon opted against home schooling.

Filip Twardzik attempts to get a shot in on the Norwich City goal. Picture: SNS

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Michael Grant

Faced with the choice of watching Celtic take on Norwich City or travelling to Iceland to witness next week's Champions League qualifier opponents HJK Helsinki, he predictably opted for the latter last night.

He wouldn't have wasted much time deliberating. There was little to be learned from watching a shadow Celtic XI concede a last minute Grant Holt goal for the club which finished 12th in the Barclays Premier League last season. Filling his notebook with observations on the Finns would have been more worthwhile ahead of the first leg of the third qualifying round at Parkhead a week tonight.

Assistant Johan Mjallby took Lennon's place and he wasn't the only deputy on duty. It wasn't billed as a Celtic reserve match but that's what it amounted to, to the despair of Juho Rantala, Helsinki's assistant manager, sat in the main stand as his own side beat KR Reykjavik 2-1 to complete a 9-1 aggregate win. An entire XI were either rested, unavailable or among the subs. Lukasz Zaluska had Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izaguirre as his full-backs either side of Thomas Rogne and Kelvin Wilson. Dylan McGeouch, Kris Commons, Paddy McCourt, Filip Twardzik and Georgios Samaras played across the middle, with Daryl Murphy on his own in attack. It wasn't a flat midfield, as McCourt played deep, Commons floated behind Murphy and Twardzik and Samaras tried to run at Chris Hughton's team. Celtic's defence looked so unsure of itself when dealing with any first-half pressure that it would have been understandable if Wilson's withdrawal after 35 minutes had been an attempt to shore up the back four, but actually he was suffering from shin splints which will require a scan. As the break approached he was joined on the sidelines by Zaluska, who suffered a cut on the head.The friendly was evenly-matched: neither side did much to quicken the pulse. Celtic were much improved from Saturday's 4-0 defeat against Ajax, but did not take their chances. Commons threatened with a 30-yard shot which was deflected off the top of the bar and Lustig hit the woodwork again with a header. Much later McCourt unloaded a long through ball which Samaras controlled expertly only to lift his chip on to the roof of the net.But it seemed a long night. The home supporters had amused themselves by jeering Norwich's most familiar figure, Steven Whittaker, although their baiting of the former Rangers man extended only to the 21 minutes he lasted before injuring a leg and having to limp off. Without him there was little to hold the attention from Hughton's functional side, or actually sides given that the named one team for the first half and another one for the second. The team which played the second 45 was a little stronger and Forster did well to deny them a goal when Chris Martin attempted to jab a backheel into the net.Gary Hooper, James Forrest, Adam Matthews and Mo Bangura came on as Celtic beefed up a little but when a goal came it was past Forster in the final minute. Bradley Johnson's shot broke of Forster's legs to Grant Holt, who buried a tap-in. "We are getting there," said Mjallby. "I don't read too much into pre-season results; I'm looking at what we do in general play." Celtic have managed only two goals themselves in five friendlies so far. That wouldn't be significant if it wasn't for the fact they're beginning to worry about how they will find a way through against Helsinki.

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Inability to Finnish leaves Lennon with European concerns

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