It must be love
We were recently discussing the right man , right time , right place factor which I see going on at Old Trafford at the moment and wondering just how far exactly that gets you and how long it generally lasts for .
A few different managers at our club of choice have been that man and once again its Neils time to play that role . Its one he knows and not being stupid he should be better than last time by dint of more football knowledge tucked under the belt . Especially if the old saying you learn more in failure than success is true.
I wonder though if its a bit more than that in our Lennys case .
Im starting to think its more the perfect match , or a match made in heaven . The dream couple if you will.
I read Sutty opine that if theres only one club you feel alive at , that you really GET , then all else will just be pale imitations and you simply must find your way back there .
We all know theres some things that more than go together , they are just made for each other,,,
Mornings and Coffee
Bread and Butter
Gerry and the Brig
Skwerr and well fired Roll ( please carry on yourselves )
It seems we are going to have a new addition to that list .
I was more than gutted when Neil departed the first time as I felt we had something special but didnt really hop aboard and ride the wave the whole way , from the boards perspective that is .
But it seems its a case of his love for the club allied with a bit of worldly knowledge that the grass isnt always greener plus some better the devil you know has won out the day .
It will take someone special to take the hotseat from under his feet if Neils doing well and delivering whats asked for.
The decision might not be taken on footballing reasons alone though , as much as that hurts me and you Im sure , and I will be writing more about that next week .
Its the first time its been my article since “ he “ departed so i’ve had a bit of time to reflect .
I get the move , I do , and its obvious now that many ( myself included ) were correct in saying you cant treat him like that never mind shouldnt last summer after cleaning up again .
So theres fault on both ends here .
Thats usually the case though and not my point here.
I personally feel that in doing what he did he tarnished , just a little bit but still a bit , the support and the reputation of the support from not only County Antrim , but the island as a whole .
For in saying Im a Celtic man and not having that questioned but faithfully accepted he rode on the coattails of all the faithful from old Eire . Played the Irish card if you would .
It seems for his own career as again , any true Celt would have not only drove us over the line but been damn proud to.
I know the larger support may or may not care or even see it that way , and certainly wont think less of those across the sea , but theres a bit of me that thinks how dare you .
Enough from me on that. I wont be keeping an eye out. Hopefully that goes for you also.
Happy Friday ladies and gentlemen and have yourselves a great weekend !
And hey , Hibs will be crapping it is my prediction . We will crush them.
If Neil Francis get’s the job Full Time does anyone think there will be a football budget of £35 Mil. I’m pretty sure if gets the gig that part of the remit will be to lower the wage bill and severely trim the first team squad. MST of that can happen this summer anyway due to “natural wastage” and perhaps our long lost “friend” acquiring some others. Interesting times ahead methinks, por cierto.
HI MAHE, ive promised myself not to talk about our former manager, he’s gone it’s his loss, nobody is bigger than the club, lets all get behind lenny, Saturday against hibs will be tough, but if anyone can get us through it will be neil francis lennon.COYBIG HH.
Mahe, you know that I reluctantly stopped posting on the blog for certain reasons. However I have to come back at this juncture in the hope that all Celtic supporters can lay aside whatever differences and viewpoints they may have and get 100% behind Neil.
This is the time for all of the Celtic family to show just how much the club means to us. Nothing less than total solidarity will do.
When the Triple Treble has been won, we can then pause to forensically examine the extraordinary events of the last few days and the season in general.
Finally will anyone join me in the push to get rid of what James Forrest calls the “degenerate section” of our support that is now dragging our good name and reputation through the mud? We have many enemies from without – we don’t need these ‘coke heads’ from within.
HAIL HAIL THE CELTS ARE HERE!!!
I for one am delighted our Lenny is back, he has unfinished business.
PC
For sure the squad is going to be trimmed and as you say natural wastage will account for a fair bit of it, I can’t see Lenny getting much to spend, downsizing will be the buzz word for some time me thinks.
……………….
Gold
I agree but it won’t happen, society is to blame and things are getting so much worse, there is too much money to be made for the people in control, there are ways to stop the drug problems but no politician will take the bull by the horns and legalise everything, it’s the only answer, for sure there will still be problems but they will be manageable unlike now where it’s escalating out of control.
The downsizing started on Tuesday, but hopefully in a positive way.The squad and the wage bill is out of control, guys like deVries,Gamboa and Commper ,will be on £18-20k a week,and they don’t make the bench. Neil is a smart guy, and will build a presentation/business plan to the Board, as part of his application for the role full time IMO. He will know scouts, and have players in mind who were too expensive for Hibs,he picked up some very decent players for them,and his strike rate first time round, is miles better than Rodgers.
Por Cierto- i just seen your post….:))
Bada
I think Lenny will do fine bringing players in, as long as he is given a free reign and the wannabe DoF leaves well alone.
TET- that is the danger…..Lenny needs to be strong, but as he wants the job,PL will use that…
bada
That is my biggest worry as well.
I wish Rodgers no ill will,up until Monday he was up there with my Celtic Legends,but no more banners,no more songs,and i can’t wish him good luck.We have already moved on.
I agree 100%
https://twitter.com/BrotherCeltic/status/1101203209253801989?s=08
GOLD
Glad to see you back on,and I hope you stick around. It’s my turn for the article tomorrow,and although I commented on the matter yesterday,it will be a big part of the subject matter.
I had intended to do so about a fortnight ago,but Stevie Clarke’s statement overtook that. I had the tried to organise something,which may yet happen,in support of him-a bit more than just an article here-but once again,have been overtaken by events.
To reiterate,Wednesday’s stuff was a disgrace,and a new low. I’ll leave it at that till tomorrow.
No point in my view holding resentments against Rodgers, that’ll on divide the support and help the Sevs.
On the positive side. We’ve time to build, the infighting is over.
8 points clear. The League Cup’s in the bag.
Can’t wait to have a bit of payback on Petrie at the weekend.
Sevco are still a Newco. The Treble Treble is still on.
Sometimes a bit of pain is exactly what’s required to focus the team and the support.
Feels like we’ve been rejuvenated and having Lenny back is a win win.
HH
BADABING
Bloody hell!
I’m really grateful for that,absolute dynamite. And I can only assume it to be true,with THAT amount of name dropping!
There is going to be rumour after rumour coming out by those who want to trash BR’s name, as ever the truth will be somewhere in the middle.
He’s gone.
THEEXILEDTIM
I’m with you on this. Too much poison for it all to be true and yet Teflon Pete escapes without blame.
Even if EVERYTHING that has been printed about BR in the last few days is true,there is more than one person responsible for it all.
A CEO should NEVER down tools during the summer transfer window-the London meeting between them and DD suggests the latter was unaware of this beforehand-and yet virtually every site and every poster is ignoring,to me,the elephant in the room.
Honourable mentions to the likes of DBHOY and CHAIRBHOY on CQN,and MONTI on e-Tims. Obviously many more,but vastly outnumbered by the hate brigade.
His timing sucked to high heaven,but he does NOT deserve the opprobrium and hatred that has hit him like a tidal wave. It’s hunnish,and strikes me of being somewhat orchestrated.
M
Your last sentence sums it up for me.
We could have been in a sorry place had he not agreed to come to us, another Pedro puppet could have done untold damage to us, he has put things in place that should be taken on board and utilised to their full.
Many are saying that he was a fraud etc, he may well have been, only he knows, but a lot of supporters will be taking their anger out on him because they were taken in by the fraudster in their eyes, that’s where most of the anger will come from, sensible posters are choosing to believe stuff that they know deep down not to be true cos it will deflect from them.
He’s gone, end of, we should be better than the hate that is being directed at him.
I think Neil is the man for now.
Time will tell if he is the right man for the future?
We need a more cohesive strategy for the integration of youth.
Not sure Neil is the man to do such.
I liked his soundbites after Wednesday as he spoke truth.
Thats refreshing as our two previous coaches often talked about performances that plainly didn’t happen.
I understand it was part of their managerial approach but i prefer reality and honesty.
The Man U situation is a perfect example of a coach facilitating players talent over a coach who thought he was the only show in town.
To many modern coaches self impressed with clipboards and tactics.
It’s a simple game but letting a dictate cloud your judgement has been the flaw of many.
As a boring aside my 6 year old son played on an under 8 side.
The coach showed up with a plethora of coaching manuals.
The team was hopeless and lost first two games 12-1 an 9-0 or thereabouts.Memory aint what it once was.
Parents started revolting and threatened to take kids off the team.A few came to me who they had seen kick a ball about with the kids and said you take over.
I refused as the coach was a lovely guy trying his best.
Coach then asked for help and told me he hadn’t a clue but did it for his son who loved soccer and was on the team.I agreed to be his assistant.I assessed who could run who could kick etc.At practice i played freeze blowing the whistle when they bunched and doing my best to explain to them to keep distance as it made it easier to pass to teammate.We went up and down the field a few times doing such.
On the Saturday at the next game the coach said give them a tactical talk!
I gathered them together (pre Huddle days)and pointed to the opponents goal and said kids if we score more there than they do in our net we win.
Upshot is we won that and every other game to be champions.
When the parents asked what tactics we used i said simplicity and enjoyment.
Gold ,
a pleasant surprise on this Friday , a big welcome back Sir.
I agree with your sentiments and we should all be thankful that we have a unifying figure , something thats impossible to buy as its priceless.
The degenerates will get coverage on here no doubt , it has got worse and they deserve tackled , but then which part of the domestic game doesnt. They will be low on some lists and high on others , such is life.
Wanna go to the game and give them a kicking when Im back ? 😉
Glad youre back,,and oh the best loan signing was Burke,,who woulda thunk it. I had defoe ffs.
Did predict a certain man was leaving though.
Hail Hail
I think we need to concentrate on going for 8-9-10,park any exotic ideas about doing anything in Europe. Take whatever money we can get from there,and build a team for the leagues ahead. If we get to the CL,great but expect a few doings, the EL is more our level, so getting out a Group is success IMO
I found this take on possession football interesting. (From Allyjambo over on SFM. Hope he doesn’t mind, I’m sure he won’t, he is a sound guy).
“But now we have football teams full of extremely talented players – the best that money can buy – coached to hold onto the ball, and regardless of how ‘beautiful’ this might look to the purist, it is slow, and can be turgid in it’s methodical approach. A goal-less draw in this context is more likely to have been played in the middle of the park than have seen the ball pinged into crowded goalmouths with posts hit, miskicks from close range, downright unbelievable misses and incredible saves.
Not everyone will see it this way, and they may even be right, but it has gone this way because the mega-buck investors must see their investments protected by ‘hold-onto-the-ball-at-all-costs’ coaches. And they do hold onto the ball, and they do beat the less well funded teams ninety nine times out of a hundred, but that only brings joy and excitement to the supporters of the elite clubs, most of whom have never attended a game in their lives.”
(He wasn’t speaking about any club in particular)
NL: “Tom, Callum and Ryan Christie will be a few weeks until we’ll have them back. Dedryck has reacted well to a knock and will be ready for tomorrow.” #ScottishCup #HIBCEL
Fan
Ha, I had a similar experience when my young fella played school football but in reverse.
The headmaster at the school thought he was the bees knees at the coaching lark, he was clueless, anyways a few of the fathers got together and approached the school to take over the coaching of the team, it was agreed that we could, first thing we did was reduce the pitch size and the ball size and told the kids that they had their own space and they weren’t allowed to leave it, it worked as the team started to win games, one time the headmaster came down to cast his eye over things and freaked out, he basically told us that we were all wrong and things had to go back to what they were, we had a bit of an argument but his attitude was it’s his team and we had to do what he wanted, we withdrew our kids from the team, he came back groveling a few weeks later, the young fella still has the medals he won, the upshot was that schools football in the area was played on reduced size pitches and a size three ball was used instead of the size five.
FAN-A-TIC
That’s the problem with kids,they all want the ball. It takes a talent to persuade them that the best way to get it is to be near enough for the pass-they can’t pass far at that age-but clear enough from the action.
ATHINGOFBEAUTY has some history in that regard,but at a slightly older age group. Winning trophies when there were only about a dozen or so kids in P7-kids,not lads!-made me really proud of her!
Don’t tell her though…
Was PL the Heidy?
He’s a better manager now than when he left,think how bad the cheating will get going for 9 &10,we need a Celtic man in the dugout to call the huns out, so Neil is as good as it gets
Believe it or not he was called Peter and looked a wee bit like him 😉
BADABING
First thing I thought there,will they be ready for a bit of hunskelpin?
Second thing I thought was something I mentioned to my sis the other day-if we play the huns at Ibrox,and win or effectively win the league there,or even if it is already won,Lenny is gonna need the Swiss Guard.
Any of the previous crap being directed his way needs to be stamped upon immediately,and bearing in mind the hatred directed at our former manager-still no comment from CFC?-from our own support the other night,that looks a doubt.
Bobby , that rumour about the meeting in London and DD telling both to sort it out doesnt hold up to scrutiny either as PL was told to support him or else , didnt , and is still sitting there ? Unless a summer sacking is on the cards thats crap.
TeT is right there will be a lot of hear say and innuendo . Just part of the game , or modern day life.
And the Teflon Don aint escaping my wrath next week .
Enjoy your visit home, my dentist was Monday funny enough.
Hail Hail
Bada
That’s a pity, was hoping Calmac at least would be back sooner
Spooky.
Did he have a copy of Championship Manager anaw?
Bada
You have no worries on that front, Pedro has no plans for europe, it’s the OF all the way.
Bada , do you know if this punter has came good in the past . Seems very far fetched , by who knows . Cant see the board tearing him a new one over that game. For a start he could easily say with the players I wanted it woulda been different . Hes the leak ? Again ,, not sure if it all ties up or even feels true.
Bent but never boring eh , the good old Sphell. Is that why we cant leave , theres always drama ? I know TeT is addicted to it the big drama queen 😉
Hail Hail
JIMTHETIM53
He’s spot on. That’s why so many Super Sunday type games are rubbish.
Look at last weekend. Four of the top five teams in the EPL played against each other.
Both 0-0
The fifth DID manage to score once,but lost to Burnley.
And it’s not just in the UK either,and is a huge part of why UEFA are looking to overturn the away goals rule.
Cloughie famously said that it only takes a second to lose a goal,nowadays the emphasis is on not losing one. An even better manager commented about winning by playing beautiful football.
Mourinho would have substituted Big Tam for disobeying instructions that only one full back can go forward at a time.
Times change,the game gets boring,the money dries up as viewers and fans lose interest.
Ooooops that should say it only takes a second to SCORE a goal!!!
D’oh…
MAHE
It does if you look at it from a different angle-that of cause and effect.
DD seems only to have looked at the latter-sort it out. He should have asked what caused it all.
He has made the bulk of his money from arbitrage,so surely over the last decade and more he must have spotted a common denominator.
Bobby at the weekend the journos were chatting and the consensus was that as a sop to not breakaway and form Superleague ( I told you all ) Fifa have decided on a 3rd Euro comp with the top tier being streamlined so only tier one and two teams ie no more 7 nil beatings or whipping boys at all .
Means the Europa cup will get much harder as there will be more regular Champs league clubs entering .
However the new third cup may well prove worthy of an assault to capture , if the board were so inclined .
Third Euro comp should be good for us.
Hail Hail
Cheers – thanks for your comments HH
Hi there – yes you did indeed predict.
I hope that DD and PL pull out all the stops, even if it means going into debt, to ensure success over the next two seasons – this season’s title is ‘in the bag’
You seen the BR thing coming, I didn’t, however regardless, I never thought he would leave as he did – the timing and the attempted ripping out of all backroom staff was unworthy of him and a dagger in the back to us. He could have left a hero in three month’s time – was his motivation to inflict damage on all of us before he left?
Good to be back – best to you and ‘Bobby
Hail Hail.
MAHE
I feel a parsimonious board would love if we accepted being a third tier outfit.
This parallels their business strategy of profit with minimum outlay and effort.
I think we are are capable of at least being a second tier outfit which would give us access to tv and advertising revenue.
With the support and a willingness by our board being a top tier is not beyond the realm of possibility.
Our last two coaches European failings have made that more difficult but our club has stood on the shoulders of giants before.
As the song says With hope in your heart.
I always think of we Celtic supporters when i hear that line.
Hail Hail
Lawwell holds all the cards now,he will drip feed stories to his poodles in the press,some true some lies,but it will all make him look the bestest CEO in football of all time ever,ever,ever…
BADA BING 1
On some blogs he already is the bestest ever.
Rumor has it he walks across the River Clyde everyday just for exercise.
BMCUW
True but i always loved the innocence of young kids playing sport.
In some way’s the clumsiness and enthusiasm are so refreshing and entertaining.
Several on here and other blogs have suggested that the focus should now be on the immediate future and supporting the current management team. I agree that this should be the emphasis. NL would not be my first choice as a replacement but I applaud his loyalty to the club. He is a fine person and what you see is what you get……which is worth a lot in itself!
Will NL get the job permanently? Think about how you felt when Solskjaer was appointed at MU. No chance, I thought. He failed at Cardiff but, wow, he has made Mourinho look stupid in his short time there. Lennon’s first game in charge has gone a long way to landing the league. A victory over Hibs would put him in a strong position to get the gig permanently. A string of good results will put the Celtic Board in the same position as that of MU. Can they let a successful interim manager go, in favour of a manager with a better pedigree? I suspect MU can, but I doubt that Celtic would.
Part of the rationale of why the job is Neil’s to lose, is the carnage wrought by the departing manager. He attempted to dismantle a large part of the backroom staff at the club. This will need to be rebuilt. A departing NL would not have the same negative effect on the club. His affection for the club is real.
But is success as an interim a good indicator of future success as a permanent manager? The evidence is mixed but I give you the curious case of Craig Shakespeare. Shakespeare, ironically, was the assistent manager to Ranieri at Leicester. After Ranieri was shamefully sacked, S took over as interim manager in February of 2017. Despite Leicester’s lowly position he won his first match against………..wait for it…………….Liverpool, 3-1! The following month he was appointed permanent manager of Leicester, after being the first EPL manager to win all four of his first games and score at least three goals in his first three games.
However, as we know, the story had an unhappy ending. By October, 2017, Leicester were in the bottom three of the league with relegation looming. Mr S got his jotters.
Good luck, Neil. You have already won my admiration by taking the job on under very adverse conditions. Your dedication to the club is unquestioned.
Rebus
Gold,
Welcome back. I look forward to you challenging my views and me returning the favour!
Rebus
https://twitter.com/90MinuteCynic/status/1101481894804373504?s=08
Somewhere in the middle, re passing the ball out…
The best CEO ever has just lost our Coach at the business end of the season.
The only explanation we are being fed is that Brendan Rodgers is a fraud, cheat and a liar.
Typically in Scotland there lacks any subtlety about the discussion. It takes two sides for a relationship to break down. There are just too many unanswered questions and a feeling of a familiar lack of transparency about the whole thing.
Yet again Neil Lennon has been called in at the 11th hour. The more hysterical and partisan the coverage gets, the greater the concern.
Mr Lawwell’s fist punch the other night might owe more to his sense of relief than anything else.
Anyway let’s back the team and forget about Brendan’s reaction to the news that Celtic were about to sign another winger in Maryan Shved.
Although on a bigger scale this feck up has a touch of the familiar to it.
Best of luck to the squad and coaching staff for the rest of the season.
HH
Rebus ,
You would or wouldnt give him the job ? You seem to say you expect him to get it , but you wouldnt give him it ?
Cmon then out with it , who would top the Rebus list ?
We could do better ,go foreign for instance which I have predicted . But then he would want x y and z and thats where it falls down as theres no point bringing him in not to go the whole hog and back him . That usually involves foreign players and decent money , not projects , and theres where the problem lies .
He must play our game , we dont play his and see where or how far it takes us.
It seems a director of football might be best all round , something I shall probably scribe something about .
Shakespeare was a case of the dressing room getting their way , and then relaxing thinking we are too good to go down .
The year Newcastle went down they had 5 different managers that season , just wow .
Ole seems to have the making of a good manager and is a Fergie clone I believe , but I wanna see what happens after a bad run . Does he have a plan B if that mini Fergie doesnt work .
Speaking of Fergie this podcast is well worth a listen , about 4 minutes in they discuss Fergies “ Top 10 Feuds ! Yes the man had to narrow down his list of feuds to a mere ten , holy crap ! He did like a scrap and was a bit feisty was Alex
http://podbay.fm/show/254078311/e/1544792400?autostart=1
I see BR revisionist history has already begun.
Betrayal?
At least he didn’t sign the 5WA or ignore the huns stealing £1bn or res12 or bring back the OF
or give Celtic supporters details to the police or a number of other PLC betrayals.
So what did he do for Celtic exactly?
Ah that’s right he won an unprecedented 7 Scottish trophies in a row. What a wank.
Next.