Ross County v Celtic: Lennon looks north and ignores talk of beautiful south

Chief football writer

Saturday 9 March 2013

NEIL Lennon has poured cold water over speculation that he could leave Celtic soon to further his career in the Barclays Premier League.

Neil Lennon

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Michael Grant

Lennon's reputation has grown since he led Celtic to victory over Barcelona on the way to reaching the last 16 of the Champions League. There has been long-running speculation about Victor Wanyama, Gary Hooper and Fraser Forster being wanted by English clubs and that now applies to Lennon, too. When Forster was asked yesterday about his manager possibly moving on he said he "could definitely see it happening" at some point.

Naturally Lennon must weigh his deep affection for Celtic, and the club's size, success and annual access to the Champions League, with the fact that he could be offered a route into the more continually challenging Barclays Premier League. After the drama of facing Juventus on Wednesday night in Turin, Celtic today take on Ross County in Dingwall.When the matter of his own future was raised yesterday, though, Lennon batted the topic away. "I am the manager of Celtic and I am one of the privileged few who have been lucky enough to do this job. I enjoy it, I love what I do. I can't stop speculation about players or myself but at this current period I am Celtic manager and I don't see any reason for that to change."But why are we talking about me leaving Celtic all of a sudden? I am only three years into the job. I am doing my job, I haven't done a job. I want to improve myself, the team, the players and take the club forward. We have made huge strides this season. It will be difficult to replicate it next season but that is the challenge that lies ahead."You guys [in the media] create the speculation. The minute we get a player in who does well, it's as if you can't wait for him to go somewhere else. It's as if this is just a passing phase in their career. I have told the players this before; they may not get it better than this. They may not get to play at such a big club, play in the Champions League and have the chance to win trophies year-in, year-out. "The only thing that hampers us is that we are in a difficult financial climate. We can't compete with smaller clubs elsewhere who get more money from TV revenue, that is the environment we are in and we understand that."Another consequence of Scotland's relatively lowly status in European football is the fact that, as champions, Celtic would have to play their first Champions League qualifier on July 16 or 17, before the league season is under way and when their match fitness inevitably will be lacking. Given the huge significance to the club of reaching the Champions League group stage – in both football and financial terms – the prospect of being vulnerable in the qualifiers is already a cause of concern."I can't see many positives from starting in mid-July. If we get to the Scottish Cup final [on May 26] I don't know how much of a break some of the players are going to get. Mentally they need a break. It is very, very demanding."We will try to give players time off between now and then. But Efe Ambrose will be at the Confederations Cup with Nigeria right up until the June 23, so he might not even feature in the opening [Celtic] games."Clubs often do some of their incoming transfer business in the last couple of weeks in the transfer window but Lennon admitted that caused its own problems. "We could be out of the Champions League by then: that's the danger. We're really hampered in Scotland by the way the fixtures fall and the fact that we have to qualify. We'll say it's unfair but that's where we are. I would love to win the league this year and go straight into the group stage and sit back with a big fat cigar and enjoy the summer. Unfortunately, that's where we are."We are already planning for our preparation and pre-season. We are just trying to get the timing right again. It looked like we got it right last year, but you can only tell after you get the results."Today, Lennon's job will be to lift his players in the Highlands after the inevitable deflation of exiting Europe. "Going from Juventus in the last 16 to Dingwall is a step down in some people's minds but in my view it is a very important game. You have got to motivate the players, there is a championship to win and you've got your own targets to achieve."Victor Wanyama will miss the encounter because of a hamstring strain while Adam Matthews will be out for two or three weeks with the same problem. Georgios Samaras and Emilio Izaguire also picked up knocks in Turin and will not play in Dingwall. Tom Rogic, Rami Gershon, Tony Watt and Paddy McCourt have all been added to the squad.

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Ross County v Celtic: Lennon looks north and ignores talk of beautiful south

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