Celtic Banter Archive February 11 2014

 

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11 Feb 2014 21:45:54
Evening Ed, guys NL has done a fantastic job for a rookie with all the pressures of managing Celtic and the shameful stuff he's went through, but an experienced manager with the same success ( or failures ) in all competitions I don't think he would have be given the same time, I hope he stays one more season and gets the four in a row then leaves before he has to face Rangers and all the bile and flak that will come his way, I've criticised some of his selections and subs but I would like to give him my thanks if or when he goes
GBNL :)))))

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If he stays another season then leaves before Sevco make their Premiership debut then the bigots will see this as a victory, that they've ran him out of Scottish football with fear.

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11 Feb 2014 18:52:17
As much as I want lennon to go and have never been a fan of him being manager, I would not be surprised if he is still manager next season unfortunately.

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If he goes I think it's a stick on the board will hit us with some mince like Owen Coyle, sadly.

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@hamiltonbhoy I think your right mate. Just hope they listen to who fans want. My choice would be Michael laudrup. Apparently he was on £500k at swansea

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11 Feb 2014 15:19:43
Lennon as manager .

Long May it continue I hope . Would like for him to get the signings HE wants & not the boards mentality of selling on fees . Think Lennon has done a great job, I freely admit it could be better but it's not a sackable offence for what he has achieved in my view

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11 Feb 2014 18:41:07
@Barry the Janny my views on Lennon are well documented on here but one of my biggest gripes is that he has given sevco a massive financial and psychological lift, just tonight on TV they are advertising £85 season tickets for rest of campaign, even if only 5000 buy these that is an extra £425k in their coffers allied to whatever they make from Scottish cup (which could top over £1m)

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If he does not want a player why not just tell Mr Lawwell to stash the cash till a better one comes along? Or would that make him the yes man many seem to think he is?

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Total nonsense!

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11 Feb 2014 19:03:19
What's NL got to do with sevco or there money, season ticket prices or Scottish cup run?

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What has Lennon achieved that keeps him in the job, 5 trophies from 15 is not an achievement - its a severe fail in my opinion.

1 good champions league result against Barcelona does not cover the numerous cup defeats in the Champions League, Europa League and Domestic cups.

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Its lennon who goes to lawell with HIS signing targets! Total and utter nonsense! Tata lennon sooner the better!

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Evening guys, I won't go on and on about it but lennon is def tactically unaware and just does not have a clue how to change things . can someone tell me the last manager who continued to play 1 striker? my point. is this take Forrest, he's getting pellters ( by the way I'm no great fan of his) but I feel sorry for him . the way we play 5 across middle, supposedly better for him to get in behind defences but just look at teams we play they sus us out from start Forrest has to beat say, left midfielder, left back, and then a centre half covers in at the back leaving no space forcing him inside at the same time opposing players are taking position shutting us down and making it a lot harder, why he doesn't play two strikers meaning centre defenders can't move out position therefore leaving more space for wingers and short give and go passes inside box giving us better chance to win games?? or am I Just way ahead of my time in my thinking . look forward to being either shot down in flames or getting put forward for the job if it becomes available lol cheers tfb

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11 Feb 2014 21:16:18
A can totally understand people thinking he should leave now but he should go with a thanks and still as the legend he is, not with people bad mouthing or smart a*se comments about him

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@8 . The Lisbon Lions were legends . Jimmy Mcgrory, Danny Mcgrain, Henrik Larsson Paul Mcstay were legends . Neil Lennon has been a good servant but certainly not a legend . DH

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11 Feb 2014 22:11:30
Behave yourself! How many years has he served the club through all the torment how many trophies does he have .

Why would mcstay be a legend b4 Lennon??

Lennon is and will forever be a celtic legend!

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{Ed007's Note - That's an outrageous statement about McStay!}

@DEEAITCH mate totally agree. noway has or should lennon be classed as a legend. Loyal servant as a player, abysmal as manager.

Too many people have got the blinkers on with regards to Lennon. No better than Mowbray if you ask me. i'm stunned he has lasted so long

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Monkeybhoy a canny believe uv compared the legend stature between the maestro and lennon lol

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12 Feb 2014 07:17:31
Not once did a say McStay wasn't a legend!

A simply asked why he would be called 1 and Lennon not .
Roughly 14 years at celtic . 11 trophies as a player, also captain . Played last 16 twice. Eufa cup final once.
Coached a couple years.
Became manager won 4 soon to be 5 .
Last 16 in CL .
Not to mention all the stuff he's went through for our club when it would have been easier to walk away.
So what do you need to do to become a legend??

Mcstay 8 trophies in roughly 16 years.

And again a never said he wasn't a legend .

Think maybe it ain't me who has blinker when it comes to lennon

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McStay played close to 800 games for Celtic + Scotland, carrying Celtic on his back through the 90s. He could've quite easily have went on to higher levels like Paul Elliott and John Collins but he stuck with us through thick and thin. He also remained a subtle man, even though he was the stand out most of those games he played - unlike the egomaniac NL has became. There's no comparison between the Maestro's class to Neil Lennon in my opinion.

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HamiltonBhoy could not have put it better about Paul McStay, stuck with us when others left, carried Celtic great servant to the club

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12 Feb 2014 10:46:00
515 games
Again never doubted he wasn't a legend if you bothered to read it.

Has Lennon not shown great loyalty to celtic, played many a game won many a trophy?
Just because he wasn't as good a player as mcstay disentangle mean he can't be classed as a legend

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League games / goals: 515 / 57
Scottish Cup: 66 / 6
League Cup: 54 / 7
European: 43 / 2
Scotland caps / goals: 76 / 9

TOTAL: 754 / 81

Neil Lennon was a great servant with a serious passion on the pitch that rubbed off on others and noised up opposition, but he's been a mediocre manager with an inflated ego.

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12 Feb 2014 17:37:44
Again never once said mcstay wasn't a legend! Still you chose to ignore .

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11 Feb 2014 13:37:19
Give Neil more time and put pressure on the board to support him.A new manager would get one big signing
then work with same tight signing policy and tight wage structure it could take years.he might get it wrong, how patient would we be? I believe Neil and his team can make us better if allowed. Take it easy on me, it's my first comment on here.

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11 Feb 2014 14:01:14
First of all Brisbane Greg welcome to our wee site, if you post sensibly no one will argue with you, I am the one who posts the daft stuff lol.
As to your point about Lennon, sadly I am now of the opinion he has taken us as far as he can. Some of it is his fault like his poor tactical awareness and playing his own favourite players who contribute little to the team.
I agree the board has not helped the manager in recent times, and it grates with me when Lawwell again comes out with the "we can sign an £8m player" when they never do.
If as new manager comes in at least the board will be forced, at first, to back him and give him some
decent money, also the fresh approach a new manager brings is maybe what the whole club needs just now players and fans.
Brisbane Greg I hope you continue to post your thoughts and debate with us all.

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Neil and his team wouldn't find themselves in this predicament if he learned to drop his out of form favourites and give fringe players some game time! While he continues to do that, he'll never develop any further as a manager.

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Welcome Brisbane Greg. always good to hear another Bhoy's opinions. I don't agree with the other bhoys on here, I think NL has done a fantastic job for Celtic and I also think he has got a lot more left to give. He is still young, still learning and he is now building another team. In terms of playing his favourites, every manager is the same, MON did it with Thommo, WGS did it with Telfer and the reason is these are the people they can trust and based on the fact that he is going to win 3 in a row his decision have been vindicated. He has lost out in the cups but I put that firmly in the players court, last week 1-0 up and cruising and a small mistake cost us however we didn't create enough despite the number of strikers we had on the pitch. I would like to see more youth players involved and if that means sacrificing some results then so be it but are the rest of the support willing to do that?

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11 Feb 2014 15:46:34
i don't disagree with lennon doing a really great job for us but its the picking of favourites that bugs me.

fisher dropped for matthews just back from injury in a cup game that has/had the potential to end our season in february. why not wait and throw matthews in to the team in a league game? that's 1 of many decisions that gets to me

as all young managers he makes mistakes but for to long he has done so and not learned from them

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@allymac it's not fair to say Lennon is young and still learning he's had Europa league football 1 successful champ league campaign and qualified for another he has also won 2 league(soon 3) and ran close in another yet still we see basic bad management if he stays I've no doubt next year will be same bad decisions with same or different players when crunch games happen. I'm not saying he won't win 4 or 5 in a row but I doubt we will progress as a team.

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Welcome Gregg, guys give NL a break. You talk about tactics, you are a fan compared to a pro footballer and now experienced manager what do you know about tatics compared to him.You talk about signings 2 things on this. Some if not most of recent signings are not his choice signings they were clearly offered to him once the targets wernt available or not willing.And how many 1m - 2m players do you really expect to light up the team look at what that type o money gets you.Yes a lubo or henrik can be found but once a decade if your lucky.As for getting an 8m player you and I know that won't happen its just PR.Favourites? I sure he has havnt you? Samaras played at weekend, wernt you cryin out for 1 o his favourtes (mulgrew)to be playin instead, somehow I don't think we would a been run over inmidfield if he was playin, be careful what you wish for.

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@rayman give NL a break? tactics? well how come experienced former professionals on football phone ins regularly slate his tactics? talk bull

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Welcome Brissy Greg

Go Bombers! :)

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DN30, because they are pundits, former pros yes but if they were any good they would be managers, also hindsight is a wonderful thing. Was NL tactics questioned at barca 2 seasons ago or durin this unbeaten run you are reactin to a defeat. Tactics are ONLY good if your players perform on the night. I never seen a team play brilliant and lose to tactics.

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{Ed007's Note - Remember this is NL's first managerial job, just being a manager doesn't make you a good one. Where's Roberto Di Matteo managing just now? There is a very long list of people who used to be managers, one wrong decision in England by NL and he could easily end up on that list.
Hey ho, at least he will be able to dine out for life in Glasgow on the strength of beating Barca, we'll just forget getting rag-dolled by them this season and all the pi$$-poor results he has presided over.
Also I've seen plenty of matches where the better team loses after being outsmarted by the tactics of the opposition, how about Inter Milan beating Barca in the 2010 CL, and that was playing with 10 men for over an hour in the second leg.}

Rayman that's a ridiculous statement, of course some of these pundits used to be managers! If you take time to go back, I've been posting for quite some time about Lennon not being good enough! You clearly have no viable argument, tactics are what makes a team win a game. i'm not a manager so in your view i'm not allowed to state the obvious, but everyone knows you play the best performing team you can that will give best chance of winning. lennon sticks with his favourites (stokes utter pish). Also the amount of money he has squandered on poor signings is unacceptable. Fair enough turned a profit on a couple, but majority has cost us. Sooner Lennon goes the better

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Imagine a scenario 3 years ago.Just lost the league to the dead team. Lost a semi to a lower league team and we were struggling badly.Now you wish for champions league football, last 16 would be brill even better beatin barca and other big euro teams. Raking in millions and millions, cash rich, 3 in a row, headin for 10. Long unbeaten run in league, breakin records for shut outs etc.Wud anybody not accept this with the league we are in lol.Also findin a gem like Virgil. Ed I take your point about tactics, yes better teams lose to certain tactics. But not when the play brilliant. Any team that plays really well will not lose to tactics because they clearly better, they only lose to those tactics because they never played well.

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{Ed007's Note - I've got do disagree with you Ray, tactics are as important as the quality of your players. Bayern Munich did not have a poor game in the 2012 CL final, Di Matteo set out his team to nullify BM, it was up to them to break down Chelsea and they failed, it doesn't mean the never played well, it was just Chelsea's system stopped them. How many times have you came out of Ibrox wondering how we managed to get beat after playing them off the park?}

11 Feb 2014 12:10:56
Wait a minute everyone. NL didn't lose the game the players did, the same players who are unbeaten in the league, the same players who kept all those clean sheets. NL said the players trained really well and were up for it but they didn't perform, there is only so much you can do with 3 subs isn't there. I like the look of Johansson, VVD is a class act as is Matthews and Lustig for that matter. Griffiths will score goals, lots of them and once he gets used to what is required to play for Celtic I think you could be looking at someone who will score a lot more than Hooper did. In the summer we need a little bit of quality, not a huge amount of players, Ambrose may go, Forster will go, Sammy will go and we may lose another couple, so instead of bringing in5-6 new players, just get 1 or 2 that will be capable of stepping straight into the side like Johansson. Lennon has already said he is building another team, let's give him the chance to do it TRUST our manager, he hasn't done that badly. I remember we watched MON's teams and WGS's teams and at times they were dire but they won, this is the same at the moment, things are a bit flat but they will pickup again at the start of the Summer, when the buzz will be there again. NL is still only 3 years into his managerial career and he will make mistakes, he will learn from them so maybe we shouldn't be too quick to hound him out the door. I would like to see another coach to work with the strikers and maybe the younger players given more of a chance but maybe NL is aware how futile our support are when he loses a game here and there. Would you be willing to lose another 4-5 games between now and the end of the season to see the young players given a chance, I bet there are a huge majority who wouldn't accept that. I am not saying that NL will go on to become another Jock Stein or Billy but he doesn't deserve the amount of stick he is taking form his supporters. They have lost 2 games all season, granted they were big games but the prize is always to be champions, and despite what has gone on elsewhere that will always be the target. In one way I am glad that the cups will go elsewhere because it further enhances the fact that Scottish football is a competitive platform despite what the journo's would have you think.

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11 Feb 2014 13:46:59
Agree that he doesn't deserve abuse from our own fans but we should be p*ssing all over everybody just now, if we can't compete in the CL because the whole money situation then know Scottish team should be able to compete with us. Not saying every game is a shoe in (there's always the odd upset) but the cup record is abysmal we slag mcoist for his cup record so Lennon needs to accept his isn't good enough.
Things have maybe gon flat for him maybe he's lost his edge due to no competition.

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Maybe but you need to look at the players especially in the cup games. We have been giving all the teams in the league a going over but 2 bad performances has cost us a treble. I know people say it isn't easy but let's be honest, Morton at home should have been a shoe in even for a 2nd string and the Aberdeen game is inexcusable as the players knew they were coming in good form. I think Lenny needs another couple of years, if he can keep a hold of VVD and build around a younger core then we could have a really nice side going forward. I think the likes of Balde and Pukki need to be given more game time, not 1 game in 1 game out, give them a run of 10 games, tell Pukki he will start the next 10 games and that eases the pressure on him to try and score, even play him in behind Griffiths or play Balde up top and put Commons, Pukki and Griffiths in behind him. I suppose it's easy sitting here when there is no pressure to win. We all have our favourites but I don't see the point in spending decent money on these guys and not giving them a decent chance to play. Still that is why NL is the manager, he see's them in training, he studies the opposition and puts out a team to beat them. I hope this week see's a real performance from the bhoys. They can now play with no pressure, the clean sheet thing is gone so go and finish the season in style. There is still the opportunity to finish the season as invincible, let's be the 1st team in the top flight to do it.

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11 Feb 2014 15:21:29
Think the players should get the blame in 1 offs but it's not 1 offs in cup games anymore, it's his job to get them up for it and pick the team so he needs some of the blame now. Av been forever defending Lennon on here av had also rats of argento because of it ( sure ud back me up there edd lol) but something ain't rite .
Pukki had a rite good few games in a row easily 10 he just doesn't cut the mustard

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Ally a don't agree that we have been giving teams a going over how any 1 nil games have we struggled through this season due 2 a lack of a potent striker? only really a handful of games that we hammered a team and the two best performances against hearts and m.well was when forrest and sammy wer not in the team

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@allymac you don't have a clue what your talking about. Utter nonsense

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@Allymac - so you say we have been giving teams in the league a going over. Really, did you actually check this years results?

10 games won by 1 goal, mainly 1-0 nil wins, 6 won by 3 or more goals, 5 won by 2 goals with 3 draws hardly a going over in my book.

A hefty cup win over the Hearts youth team is hardly worth getting excited about.

Add to those results defeats from Karagandy and Morton were humiliating. Mowbray and Barnes were punted for after defeats to Caley and St Mirren, Lennon should follow.

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11 Feb 2014 21:24:02
Karagandy we beat two legged game means you don't lose till the two legs are done or els it would have been a 1 legged game.
Mowbrey and Barnes didn't "just" get sacked for ICT or st Mirren defeats.

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It took a last minute goal to win a game that should have been over in the first leg against a team no better than Sevco.

My point being that both these guys got punted after embarrassing defeats and yes they had a few but Lennon has had a lot more

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11 Feb 2014 22:16:55
Lennon is also in his 4th season with his 3rd title on the way. When have the celtic fans ever called for the managers head after winning the league, baring in mind we don't miss rangers.

It doesn't matter weather the goal was in the 120th minute we still won

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DN30. a VERY GROWN UP STATEMENT THAT. what part of not knowing what I am talking about is it you disagree with. We are running away with the league, have more points than at the same period last year, conceded fewer, scored more. oh wait a minute that constitutes failure in your wee bubble does it. Personally I think you are the one who doesn't have a clue, no doubt you were one of the brigade who didn't like Strachan because he wasn't a Celtic man. Look at the figures, unless I am mistaken 1-0 is still a win and if you had watched these games, who had the most possession, most shots, most corners, think you will find it was Celtic but don't let the facts get in the way of a stupid statement. Unless I am wrong we qualified for the group stages of the CL, that was the remit, not how many you concede on the way, as long as you get one more than the other team that is all that is needed. So DN30 to sum up it is you who doesn't know what he is on about and your statement isn't even good enough to be called rubbish. People need to remember that our players are not Henrik, Sutton, Hartson, they are young players coming into an environment where failure of any kind isn't tolerated even when you are going to be champions.

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Allymac IT WAS A VERY GROWN UP STATEMENT. Nonsense is based on any point you have made! Ah here we go again "running away with league" exactly what time in that league can contend with us for league? We are in a 1 horse league with us being the certainty for title season after season! 1-0 wins a good percentage of time we were lucky to even score!

As for me being in the "celtic minded" camp with regards to strachan, total rubbish! I have always maintained I couldn't care less about that pish, its the most pathetic thing ever and I hope after lennon goes, board realise this. Strachan was a far better manager than lennon ever was, it just shows how pathetic your opinions are trying to disrespect strachan.

Who mentioned anything about likes of hartson, sutton and larsson? Days of spending that sort of money are gone, but money lennon has squandered such as £2.3m

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@allymac sorry £2.2m for bangura and all the other duds he signed will not be excused!

As for youth, tell me who exactly is getting a chance??

Lennon has got his wee favourites such as stokes and forrest who shouldn't even be anywhere near the team!

Think I've backed up my statement you don't have a clue

LENNON OUT

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DN30. Tell you what mate, your opinions are nonsense. There is no backup for anything you say, just seems that mouthing off about anyone else's opinion makes you right, afraid not in the big world it doesn't. Strachan was a far better manager than Lennon, really, he took on a side that was full of top players, expensive players at that, and within 3 years 99.9% of the fans were glad to see the back of him because the football was rubbish, kind of the same theme with Lennon and MON as well. I suppose it's NL's fault that we are running away with it is it? Maybe not, but to go the length of the season so far unbeaten. even in the days of 9 in a row did we do that and based on that evidence it was pretty much a one horse race then as well. There is an old saying, you can only beat what is put in front of you, that is exactly what the manager and the players are doing but that doesn't seem to be acceptable to you, god forbid we go back 4 years, now would that be better, not winning anything, getting pumped by St Mirren and everybody else. make up your mind, either a winner or a loser. In terms of me disrespecting Strachan, read the post again and stop taking out a word here and there to backup your feeble argument. You are quoting figures for players that NL has brought in that haven't been successful, what about the one that have, what about the money he has generated from these player sales, I watched a wee guy the other day tear Celtic apart and he couldn't get a game under Strachan, does it make him a poor player, no, it means he couldn't cope with being at a big club, happens to lots of players. Stokes and Forrest shouldn't be anywhere near the team, based on what. your opinion, I think I will value NL's opinion a lot more than yours. Stokes and Hooper were excellent together but this season Stokes being asked to play as lone striker, doesn't suit him as he likes to run channels and as for Forrest, gimme a break, the boy has pace to burn, scores goals and he is still a young man, but don't let any of that get in the way of you picking the team ahead of the manager who is going to win his 3rd title in a row. So, you are the one talking nonsense, you are the one who hasn't a clue and you are the one who should probably find another sport to watch as this one is obviously far too complicates for you to understand.

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13 Feb 2014 13:22:56
Oh aye and here is another for you

www.eveningtimes.co.uk/celtic/u/celtic-manager-neil-lennon-is-manager-of-the-month.1392289216

take it off him, he doesn't deserve it, he doesn't have a clue.

It is the second successive month the Northern Irishman has claimed the award.


Aye, let's get rid of a manger who is winning things. and I don't have a clue. hahha.

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{Ed007's Note - 2 manager of the month awards in a row! I wonder if the Glazers at Man Utd know about this.}

Ed. just highlighting that he is doing a decent job, no worse or better than anyone else could do in the current circumstance and the level of abuse he is taking is way over the top.

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{Ed007's Note - They're nothing more than meaningless pats on the back. Do you think he will win it for February? I'll be speechless if he wins Manager of the Year.}

11 Feb 2014 11:54:56
Reading below about hoe John Parks should receive criticism. Not for me, he targets the player, it is up to Lenny then to get the best out of that player, and apart from one or 2 he has not been close to doing this. I think the best example of this is Ledley, who after his first season looked like a future Celtic captain, for him now to be away and a lot saying he is not really missed says a lot about Lennons managerial skills.

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11 Feb 2014 14:14:40
What happens if he targets a player that is gash, how does Lennon then make him a good player . He seems to get the praise when there is a signing that has worked but for me that works for tha bad ones to.

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He picked the team - but included Samaras who is a weak link and affects the whole team in a negative way. Lennon's loyalty is misguided.
Forrest is another underachiever and although Stokes scored a class goal, he contributed very little else at all.
So considering we had lost our way almost as soon as we scored the opener, he waited far too long to change things, although for the first time in weeks we had a good bench.
I accept that there were a number of poor performers - especially Brown, but they clearly are not playing for the manager the way they once did.

JJ

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I know what your saying HB, but what I'm trying to say is, are these players gash? Or does Lennon ultimately make them so?

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11 Feb 2014 21:30:13
A understand now he mite not be the greatest manager in world av prob defended him because of who he is and what he has stood up for, for our club and his.
Give him some credit he doesn't turn players gash players need to bring there A game or it's the players faults.
He didn't turn Brown, wanyama, hooper, Forster, Mathews, lustig gash

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11 Feb 2014 09:38:34
i think its inevitable now lenny will be leaving in the summer after that at the weekend

the list of candidates will be endless with the usual suspects in it but I wouldn't be to overly fussed on the list off the top of my head although a few decent options in there

owen coyle
malky mackay
roy keane
henrik larsson
jackie mac
slaven bilic (possibly on past links)
mark hughes
paul lambert
john collins
willie mc stay
martin o neill
mick mc carthy (god I hope not)
dave jones
billy stark
paulo di canio
kenny dalglish

lets hope john park just doesn't scout players hopefully he scouts managers also lol

whats your thoughts on next manager, who all would you want as realistically?

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Michael Laudrup, Martin Jol, Ronald Koeman, Steve Clarke, Malky MacKay, Bob the Builder, Postman Pat, Fireman Sam. Anyone other than Lennon tbh, he's took the club as far as he can.

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11 Feb 2014 10:18:17
Why does John parks avoid criticism? Surely he has had a hand in the majority of signings . If they weren't his 1rst picks did he not really do his job to the best of his ability for the 2nd or 3rd options. No doubting he's had some sucsess but also some mince

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11 Feb 2014 10:34:34
yea lennon has took us as far as he can and also john park does deserve some criticism also but at the end of the day it is lennys job to say, yes I want that player.

who knows how far down the list some of our signings have been but my comment about park was more tongue in cheek than actually meaning it

would laudrup really want to come to spl? maybe 4 years ago but not now as was only last year he was linked with madrid

ronald koeman is a good shout but did we not overlook him when nl was caretaker manager but would be happy with that one

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Tbh Monkeybhoy, we don't know enough about Park's role to criticize him. For all we know he could propose 1st choices within several different price budgets then the same for 2nd choices - that could be 18 players (3x under £1m, 3x £1-3m, 3x £3m plus). Think how much time would go in to him, Lennon, Mjallby + Houston scouting those players? For the club to route for the cheapest option makes all these trips meaningless. The blame game is right through the full club. From Dermot Desmond, I mean how much involvement does he actually have in the club? To Iain Bankier, what's his duties as Chairman? To Peter Lawwell, other than 1st July to 31st August then 1st to 31st January when the transfer windows are open, what other duties does he have to earn his huge salary and massive bonuses? To Lennon + his backroom staff who are tactically inept to the scouting network for "targets" signed.

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Spartak, Mallorca and Swansea probably thought the same though Kieran. When he left Getafe he was linked with Barca, Valencia, Benfica, Chelsea and others before joining Spartak. I think the opportunity of Champions League football would be attractive to Laudrup. Plus I love his style of play.

Koeman is one of Dutch football's elite to play + manage all 3 of the big clubs in Netherlands - Ajax, Feyenoord + PSV! As well as other clubs around Europe, so he comes with a vast knowledge of the game!

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It a always been my understanding that John Park as the scout targets various players for various positions at various cost.

Lenny then looks at positions he wants to fill or replace, or a marquee signing (I wish)

This whittled down list is then sent to the board for ratification. It's at this point that players approached might not want to sign, or we can't afford wages, or the board won't sanction.

And what you are left with is the whittled down list of credible signings that not only want to play in Scotland, won't disrupt the team, and are affordable.

I think one of the problems that celtic have is that it's not seen as a good league to join, so we are the position of trying to get the best we can but at a price we can afford, especially on the younger players who show promise which can be a gamble and sometimes these players don't settle. Others take a long time to get into the Scottish game.

What I'm trying to say is that we are at the moment in a transition period, and doing well in the league during this period.

I would like Lenny to stay on as I think in 4/5 years he will be a great manager and just as what has happened with Ki, Wynama, and prob big Foster we will miss the best years to come from him. Remember he is plying his apprenticeship just now.

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All the above names are predictable and can be ruled out mostly for one reason or another ( already turned us down, prem manager, previous manager or no longer coaching) why not think out the box and look at coaches from Spain who are now regarded as the best in the business . Look for up and coming people coaches who are adventurous in their style with lack of finances(rayo vallecano as an example I'm sure if we were to scout this field it would throw up many potential candidates that we will never have heard of . I say this as I would like us to try and change our style and for that I think a complete change is required not the usual suspects. People might think it doesn't work here but Martinez Rodgers pochettino have managed it at various clubs. Just a thought

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11 Feb 2014 14:05:38
A don't know enough of what his involent is but if he is the scout surely he brought us to the attention of :
Bangura, lassad, miku, wee Ibrahim, pukki, balde, Kapo
Am sure there's gony be more .
Who is all his major sucssess? And how long he been there?

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I know John through his daughter (she was a year or two below me at school). He's been at Celtic since 2007, Strachan brought him in from Hibs where he was in charge of youth development - bringing through the likes of Fletcher, Broony, Whittaker, O'Connor, Riordan, Thomson, Stevenson, etc. He was one of Alex McLeish's guys at Motherwell then Hibs, but refused to go with him to the Deady Bears. He also worked at Accies in the 90s as well. I think he's had a few different positions at Celtic within scouting and youth development - working with Chris McCart, Ray Clarke, Tom O'Neill, etc.

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11 Feb 2014 15:27:05
HB maybe he should become head of youth development for us then maybe the youth will get a chance with his say so .
Who could we say has been his major sucsesses for us.
Am by no means a JP hater just can't help think he must get some of the flack for lennons signings

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I know what you mean mate, and I'm sure it'd be a position he'd be interested in considering he held it at Hibs for 9 years. I actually believe he was high up in youth development at Accies when Paul Hartley came through their ranks, so I think he can also be added to his success stories. Tbh, we could have Pep Guardiola as head of youth development, recommending youngsters week after week and Lenny would still pick Stokes, Mulgrew, Sammy + Izzy no matter the form they're in!

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11 Feb 2014 09:37:41
It's easy to forget that if things had of been done in a fair and sporting manner, the opposition some crave would most likely have been a mid league team. Do they really want to go back to the days where not only, with the help of a bottomless pit of money from a major financial institution and an absurd slackness from a national tax collection dept, but the help of other more shady institutions to gain an advantage just to be in a position to challenge.

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No one is asking for the club to run up debt's TTTS, but the fact the club have broke in to the Top 40 Football Rich List while failing to replace our best players is very dissapointing. We've now lost our best defender Wilson (albeit Virgil has replaced him, however, he was bought to partner him), our best midfielders Wanyama + Ledley and our best goalscorer Hooper. We're also going to see the back of Samaras in the summer, he may not be everyone's cup of tea but he's been a big game player for us who strikes fear in to teams in Europe. The players who have came in either aren't good enough in training or not making an impact when given game time; or it could be Lennon has a bias to pick his favourites which is my favoured opinion. We need to spend money in the summer or we're in for another lacklustre season! Speculate to accumulate comes to mind.

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