Reward near as Lennon and Celtic build experience

Senior Sports Writer

Thursday 23 August 2012

THERE were a number of aspects from Tuesday's Champions League play-off win at Helsingborgs which delighted Neil Lennon.

Fraser Forster makes one of a series of important interventions against Helsingborgs. Picture: SNS

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Ronnie Cully

One which almost certainly gave him a particular glow of satisfaction was the fact the Swedish side which huffed and puffed but could not beat Fraser Forster was managed in recent times by a certain Stuart Baxter.

You may remember the name. He was the old head being touted as the perfect mentor for Lennon when the then 38-year-old was taking his first, sometimes faltering, steps in management. Poor European results against Braga and Utrecht in the opening months of his tenure only increased the clamour to appoint someone with Baxter's experience to, effectively, hold Lennon's hand.That the rookie resisted, electing to stand or fall by his own decisions, merely showed the strength of the man. Now, two years later, as he edges closer to ending Celtic's four-year absence from the group stages of the Champions League, Lennon stands on the brink of getting his reward.Not only has he brought the league title back to Celtic Park, he has also returned some measure of European credibility to the club. Since the debacle of the Sion qualifying ties 13 months ago, Lennon has sent out his side to contest 10 games on the European stage. They have lost only two, both against Atletico Madrid, who would go on to lift the Europa League last season. Their current record of three wins from three ties played this season also includes consecutive victories away from home, in Helsinki and Helsingborg. It's the first time any Celtic side has achieved this since Martin O'Neill brought down Liverpool and Boavista on the way to the 2003 UEFA Cup final, then followed that up with wins against FBK Kaunus and MTK Hungaria in the Champions League qualifying rounds the next season. The wins in Finland and Sweden are added to last season's draws in Italy against Udinese and in France against Rennes to finally silence those who revel in reminding those connected to Celtic that they can't do the business away from home. Under Lennon, they can. Now the trick is to marry this to the home form which has always been their hallmark in European competition.Plotting to undermine all the good work which Lennon and his players have done is a wily old fox by the name of Age Hareide, the Norwegian coach of Helsingborgs who can boast a cv to rival Baxter or anyone else. The mind games had begun before Lennon arrived in Sweden on Monday, and were cranked up by the time he had left the Olympia Stadium the following night. "He was saying all the pressure was on us going into the game," mused Lennon. "That may be so, but I think our players have learned to handle the pressure a lot, lot better than in the past."Hareide's latest salvo includes the suggestion that all the pressure is still on Celtic because they have a two-goal advantage. Lennon responded: "We'll be at home, so the onus is maybe on us to take the game to them. That's what we will try and do. We've got a good cushion. That's obviously important, and the clean sheet was priceless as well. I'm not going to get into a war of words with him, however. I'll just leave it at that until next week."Another shut out by Forster would not only ensure Celtic advance safely, but it would also further enhance the 24-year-old Geordie's already-burgeoning reputation. He is the only player Lennon has been able to buy in the summer transfer window, but, no matter who else comes in, they will be hard-pushed to challenge the value for money the £2m investment represents. "I've always thought, from my own experience and from watching other teams play away from home in Europe, that you do need your goalkeeper to play well," said Lennon. "You need a bit of luck as well at times, but Fraser was fantastic on Tuesday, and he made big saves at big moments. He was the catalyst for the result. He was perfect in everything he did. We might need another decent performance out of him in the home game. I'm sure Helsingborgs will try and fly out of the blocks."The prickly subject of international recognition is never far away whenever Forster performs well, and Lennon said: "I don't think he did himself any harm on Tuesday, as far as England recognition is concerned. The game was shown to a nationwide TV audience. All good goalkeepers win matches for you. Good goalkeepers are worth their weight in gold."Gold which, incidentally, UEFA could soon be delivering to Celtic Park by the sack load.

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Reward near as Lennon and Celtic build experience

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