Spiers on Sport: Lennon’s staying power at Celtic to be tested

Graham Spiers

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Late on Wednesday night Juventus polished off Celtic 5-0 on aggregate. Grievances remain over Juve’s tactics in Glasgow but this is no time in Scottish football to be carping about SPL champions being done over by some of Italy’s finest.

By any measure, this has been a fine season by Celtic. Not a stellar one, by any means. Only a domestic treble would fit that description, and St Mirren put paid to Celtic’s hopes of landing the 2013 League Cup.

Indeed Dundee United, in a looming Scottish Cup semi-final, might yet wreck Neil Lennon’s plans for a league-and-cup double. This is the sort of match, as far ahead of United as Celtic are, which has become an achilles heel for Lennon’s teams. It is the Champions League adventure, and that miraculous win over Barcelona in Glasgow, which has put a gloss on Celtic’s season. These were momentous, exhilarating evenings at Celtic Park. But if you were Neil Lennon right now, what would you be thinking? Lennon is young and ambitious. He has proved, both in colossal domestic matches against Rangers, as well as in Europe, that he can handle the big moments as a coach. While I hesitate to over-cook the subject of tactics, Lennon has shown himself to be repeatedly thoughtful and flexible in the way he puts his teams out. He also loves Celtic – that is beyond dispute. And the Celtic fans adore him. As Martin O’Neill would attest, Lennon, I doubt, will ever be lauded at another club like he is in Glasgow. Yet the question remains: for how much longer can Lennon feel inspired and stimulated at Celtic? The Champions League is one thing – but Celtic might not have that next season, depending on a perilous pre-qualifying itinerary. Rangers, of course, are posted missing for at least another two seasons. This is a subject Lennon must remain diplomatic about in public – but it is a fact he sorely misses his greatest rival. In such circumstances, can Lennon keep going to St Mirren, St Johnstone, Kilmarnock et al and raise his own game, let alone that of his players? This coming summer I believe three players will leave Celtic: Gary Hooper, Victor Wanyama and Fraser Forster. They are, arguably, Lennon’s three best players, and so the quest will commence once more to find replacements. A constantly evolving team in itself is no dreadful thing: look at the recurring reshaping of Manchester United over the years. But Lennon, should all three of Hooper, Wanyama and Forster leave, might suddenly find he faces a grim task in maintaining Celtic as a Champions League contender. And the fodder of the SPL will not satisfy him. I tend to get dogs' abuse from Celtic fans for even mentioning this subject, but Lennon spends a fair bit of time pondering his future. As well he should. It would, frankly, be amazing if a young, promising coach like him did not cast his eyes over the SPL wall towards England’s greener pastures. It’s odd, because we accept that top players in Scotland, at Celtic or elsewhere, will often look to England to further their careers. So why should it be a blasphemy to talk of an SPL manager doing likewise? This week in Italy, as with the whole European adventure for Celtic stretching back to early August, will have reminded Lennon of how enjoyable his job can be. Celtic Park, like Ibrox in better days, can tell a great story. “If Celtic were playing in the Premier League in England, why would you ever want to leave here, it would be fantastic,” Lennon once said. That was as a Celtic player. I suspect the same sentiment – and what it doesn’t say, as much as what it does – still applies to the Celtic manager today. The longer Lennon stays at Celtic, the tougher every aspect of his role will become.

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Spiers on Sport: Lennon’s staying power at Celtic to be tested

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