12 Mar 2013 22:50:03
Hey Ed007 once again great site! Just wanted everyones opinion on Lennon!
As a Celtic Fan i Love Lennon he is one of us and has been a great servant to the club and yes he has brought the thunder back as promised but im still not sure of him as a manager! Yes we have had a great champions league run but our league form has been indifferent to say the least! He has built a good young team yes but is that not more down to our great scouting team John Park ect looking at the stats Lennons managerial record isn't that great and i really wish he wouldnt air his views on Twitter or any other social media.
After last weeks exit from the champions league there was speculation Lennon might leave at the end of the season and to be honest i don't know if it would be a bad thing! The last few years we have followed the Porto mould of buying and selling young talent and i think this is the right way to go i would love us to go for Someone like Pedro Emanual from Academica young ambitious manager from the Jose Mourinho school he was AVBs assistant at Porto before coming Academica manager and winning the Portuguese Cup in his First Season with little or no budget with our scouting team he could really blossom! What's your thoughts Guys?

1.) 13 Mar 2013
With all due respect, are you serious Gaz?
In the current SPL climate Neil Lennon is the ONLY man for the Celtic job.
He won't leave any time soon.
He has made mistakes.
He learns from them.
He will soon be tasked with rebuilding the team again - as well as trying to get us back into the Champions League - which in itself this season, was a great achievement - never mind the monumental task of reaching the last 16.
That little lot will keep him very busy over the next 2 years.
And with all due respect to Pedro whoever of whatever Porto school of master Mourinho clones - why the F*"£ would we get rid of Neil for him?
John Park is a great scout but he has no influence on the manager or players except for recommending we sign them. I wonder if he could come up with a tactical plan to make the last 16 of the CL?
Would it not be better for Celtic to create our own Management / Coaching dynasty - like Liverpool, Barca and as you say Porto?
Perhaps you have forgotten, but this is Neil Lennon's first management position. He has done well in my book - all thing considered. He will get even better (unlike his 'rival' across the city)
Hail Hail.

2.) 13 Mar 2013
Our league form, for me, has been because of our great Champions league run. IF we win the Scottish cup, Celtic will have had a great season. Who would have complained with a double and the CL last 16 way back in June? Not me. Winning a treble at any level takes a really special team plus huge slices of luck, hence why it doesn't happen very often.

3.) 13 Mar 2013
13 Mar 2013 10:13:09
I can see both sides of this type of debate, what lenny has done since Mowbray has been truly fantastic, and if he stays then fine but really needs to start learning by his mistakes i. e team selection and team tatics, I know he's still young but more often than not its the very basics of a game he keeps getting wrong, I know he has to be experimental with the team but at least try keep the basic structure of the team the same, if players excel in a position then don't constantly move them, it doesn't take much to knock confidence out of a young player after a couple of bad performances but can take a hell of a time to install that confidence back into him, hail hail,, God bless the Celtic+
KEIGHLEY BHOY

4.) 13 Mar 2013
IMHO Sir AF, or the self procalimed chosen one, or Sir Matt Busby or Bill Shankly (GRTS) could not have gotten any more out of this team. Mr Stein maybe would have done better (the last two are giants of management in the last 50 years) but even they would have struggled to motivate players who already have their bootbags and toilet bags packed. NL is one of the most talented and committed managers in the game whatever age he is, his great strength is he is not up his own **** and he is willing to listen learn and develop and takes every opportunity so to do. he's a great lad, a great man and a great Celt. What else does he or anyone else need at the moment or even for the next few years? For its a grand old team to play for. Sopotcelt

5.) 13 Mar 2013
I don't agree with the second post I really don't think that we can use the champions league as an excuse for our league form this year or our poor performances in the cup losing to many semi finals and finals and even when we do win in hampden it is rarely convincing! I Believe that winning the treble this year is a big disappointment if you look at it this way we have probably had the worst league form in recent years and we are still winning the league at a canter and if players can't play 2 games in a week then they shouldn't be getting payed the money they are getting
Donegal Bhoy

6.) 13 Mar 2013
Am still not convinced lennon is the man he deserves time to develop but needs to improve domestically and stop throwing away cups champions league games he deserves credit for but so does the players and I don't think many players need motivated for the big champions league games ( or shouldn't ) the league is in the bag although they haven't crossed the line yet their is no pressure on them and for me I would expect the team to be more relaxed enjoying their football and playing with more confidence the team lack hunger for domestic competitions and that's a worry because that's what playing for celtic is about we play in the spl whether you like it or not and winning is just as important as it ever was

7.) 13 Mar 2013
Oh and also his record is one of the best out there, win percentage is 70%, in fact he has only lost 29 game over 3 season in all comp. he no only took us to the last 16 in his 3rd season as a manger but set a record for most points in the group stage of the champos league for a scottish team.
he won the scottish cup in his first full season, won the the league in his second, quilfied for the champions league group stage, got to the last 16, has won the league and on for the scottish cup in his third.
so for you to seriously question him as a mangers and then to name another young manger with a worst record just because of some link with mourinho just show what a complete lack of knowledge you has shown towards your "own" team.

goodbye
optimusmike

8.) 13 Mar 2013
Difficult to assess a manager as we rarely have all the facts. Team Selection - We don't see training sessions & aren't always aware of ever little niggling injury or level of exhaustion. (Same goes for Subs although it is easier to question Subs). As others have posted you shouldn't need a Team Talk for Champions League but you do need tactics. It would be useful for Lenny to let us know what the objectives were in a game (without giving away too made trade secrets) it would certainly be more productive than just lambasting the odd poor performance. That said there's no doubt in my mind that he is ahead of his years as a manager and personally I think Lenny's love for the Club gives him the edge over just about any other likely candidate out there & can't see him "moving sideways". That said a challenge at a top European side (including top 7 EPL) is always going to tempt any ambitious manager. Here's hoping he's here for a good few years & that he leaves is stronger than he found us. Remember no one man is bigger than the club.
Randibald

9.) 13 Mar 2013
13 Mar 2013 17:12:16
I do see both sides of the argument and I think NL has come on leaps and bounds in his 2nd full season. Although if I have one criticism of our play; I think we need more pace up front and play at a higher tempo. Like all managers there is good and bad:- He tries to make tactical changes and substitutions as soon as things are going wrong. Has the respect of fans and players and has been through more than any other Celtic manager (death threats, assaults, and a bomb!). We have punched well above our weight in Europe.
Has Celtic in his blood. On the downside:-
His Hampden record as manger is poor.
I don't like him rotating the captaincy. Wasting his time on twitter arguments; or showing too much faith in players who are not giving 100%.
Winning the double will dispel some of the doubts and cement his future and if this happens I hope the Board give him full backing financially to progress the team.

JJ

10.) 13 Mar 2013
Lennon goes to games as well to scout people don't you know? Yes park is great but Lennon is too and as working together we get a great combo but don't say all of it is due only to park cause I don't know how many times Lennon went to games to scout ppl. Lennon is a great manager and would not have been invited to the dinner which envolved all the greats in the game for no reason!

11.) 15 Mar 2013
There is no other manager in the world right now that I would take over lennon. The guy has done wonders at celtic. Remember folks lennon has not had the likes of larsson petrov moravcik mjallby and sutton and has taken us to the last 16 of the cjampions league built on a sqaudof unknowns and youngsters. Givin a couple of qaulity players I am shoure he will iron out the silly mistakes that have cost us domesticly this season. I think a lot of you seem to forget this is lennons first job as a manager. This is why he is one of the most spoken about young managers in europe at the moment and to throw names into the hat for replacements is just disrespectful not only to lennon but to all the backroom staff. Iam more than happy with the job lennon is doing and I hope he stays for many years and hopefully bring us ten in a row.
Hew1888

12.) 16 Mar 2013
What rubbish. Lennon has built the best team we've had since the days of Henrik and even they didn't get to the last 16 of the CL. We're winning the league with our eyes closed and almost the whole squad is getting first team experience. Mind you, Jimmy Calderwood is available.