SENTINELCELTS

Yesterday Lenny received the dreaded vote of confidence from his actual boss, and today see’s his old boss rolled out by the Harold to give more of the same.
Taking bets below on who tomorrows mouthpiece will be but when it gets to the stage you have ‘leave him alone’ articles or public comments daily, then your current results aren’t good enough or they would speak on your behalf.

Celtic cyberspace was not a happy place yesterday in broad terms. The split was clear, and in my opinion it’s part of why Neil was originally hired.
He was always going to divide. Was brought in for that very purpose I believe, which I elaborated on yesterday.
It’s in ‘the companies’ best interests to keep this divisive chap around as long as possible, as it saves having to hire a replacement and staves off the inevitable criticism of those who offered job in the showers.
That’s why yesterdays vote of confidence was not surprise.

It shouldn’t be a surprise Martin stood up tall for his old midfield general either. Despite being tipped by some to get involved when the position opens up, he was never going to kick Lenny when he’s down, something no good Tim should ever contemplate, nor would I personally allow.

But while Martin himself was a fine Celtic manager who put together the best team this whippersnapper has ever saw, that doesn’t make him infallible. His views on the game might have much more experience and weight behind them, but he can still get it wrong.
And to me, he has.

In his defending article he makes a number of assertions I take issue with, see as irrelevant, and or glosses over the bigger picture, all in defence of his friend yes but also showing his own mentality regarding the club currently is one not shared by most of the fanbase. Therefore I must hope he does not step into the breach when it becomes available, for we are already on different pages.

He begins by claiming the league is not over by a longshot. Ironically our title rivals and clear league favourites actually remind me of a Martin team in that it was how many did we win by, not if we won, was asked after every game.
He should know title winning form when he see’s it, but when it comes to his mates job, conveniently ignores it.
Every Tim can see it will take a miracle aka massive implosion over there to detail that train.
‘It’s far from over’ just does not cut the mustard when you’re witnessing disjointed performances from disinterested ‘stars’ who are trailing double digits to an organised outfit that clearly really want this league title.

Next up Covid sees an outing as a ranking excuse. This one takes the biscuit as we’ve been able to field a proper team in the main, but it gets the blame for the two games in hand. Martin also correctly points out that should we win the two games in hand then the gap is down to a mere five points.
This is the prevalent argument I’m reading against taking action now.
However it fails to take into account that about one quarter of our SPL games so far (4 of 13) have not taken full points, and our rivals grow in strength and believe.
It conveniently forgets they have our number, our perhaps the old genius just doesn’t think like that.

Of all the excuses that can be laid at Covids doors, no fans is the biggy, not lack of players or forcing games in hand, which we wouldn’t mind if we were a good team, but we aren’t based on this seasons showings.

The quadruple treble then gets aired.
This is another favourite stick to beat those who wish for change.
In about a months time Neil will finally get the chance to finish what Brendan started, and keeping the last treble on track was a big part of actually earning the job, but it’s not complete yet.

I’m sure the final will be a hard match and I’m not counting chickens, but we should all be honest with regards to stating Lenny claimed the fourth treble should we go on and win. Piloting the last leg of the journey does not allow you to take credit for the entire journey.

Yet Martin would launch a staunch defense based on it, claiming Neils job pressure is shocking and unwarranted. Alongside ‘forget about Rangers’ and ‘where is this pressure coming from’ our ex manager shows how out of touch he is by cursing the loneliness of management and the ails of social media.

Both are great deflector shields when needed by the facts of the matter are where else can people complain but social media when in a lockdown plus the millions warmed should silence the job complaints.

Now if Martin had correctly claimed that bedding in half a team in a must win season, while your rival is in their third year of working on their shape which has proven the best in the country, then I would have agreed.

Now if Martin had stated look what he is up against because the can’t afford that according to FFP then I would have agreed.

And if Martin had claimed when half the dressing room wants to go and it’s sad they can’t buy into the ten, then I would have agreed.

Perhaps if Martin pointed out he wasnt allowed his own coaches, then I would have agreed.

But don’t hand us your Lenny has been through it all speech. We as a fanbase must judge what we see in front if us, and two wins in eight is not something I would have expected from a quality Celtic side like the one you assembled Sir.

You yourself would have deemed that unacceptable, yes you would have. Or rather the quality professionals in your dressing room would never have allowed it to come to that.
Why not question the players mentality?
No, defend the friend.

Even offering Lenny a route out by correctly claiming that the entire season is just a shitshow that can’t all be laid at his door, would have been more preferable to me than a ‘dont write him off yet’ special.
There’s a recent interview out there somewhere with one of his explayers claiming he doesn’t do tactics, so why Martins interview over the players dear Harold?
I’ll say it again but someone should intervene before Lenny gets sacrificed at Mordor. It’s clearly not going to be his old mentor.
A mentor I now consider past it and would prefer he stayed away and kept his mouth shut for fear of ruining his legendary status.

Finally the source and timing.
Let’s be honest, do the Harold have more to gain (ie will they sell more) by keeping Lenny in situ and spectacularly covering his downfall alongside having puff pieces on the new champs?
Or would they prefer to see a fresh faced challenger thinking I can turn this around and win the ten with this squad who just lack unity and believe, then become an instant legend, and hit the glitz and glamour of footballs Vegas aka the EPL?
It’s clearly the former.

And that’s why we see the ‘keep the chin up’ pieces. Prolong the fight, to carry him to defeat. Can’t have a new challenger now.
The Harold certainly aren’t rolling out the players opinions to the public are they? All while Partygate is very much off limits under penalty of banishment and my own favourite Lamborghini-gate astonishingly never got fully investigated.
But there’s time to keep Lenny here.
We all know the fourth estate is bent as a six pound note.
That’s why they walk towards the cliff, sites like this willing to lend a helping shove.

You will have heard or read recent rumours regarding Martins return possibly. Being publicly diplomatic, not slinging any arrows at all, is very much his Modus Operandus. After Seville we got the ‘life in the slow lane’ line as many wanted us to kick on.
I was confused initially, then we heard we couldn’t afford that level.
Regular readers will know that has since been proven false. Debated it not long ago on here.

So Martin must be taken with a pinch of salt as they say. You don’t get the real story, he is playing his corner, and it’s brought him this far, not saying it’s wrong or anything.
But he just doesn’t rock boats. He makes the best of what he has.
At least he did.

That’s why this interview suits down to the ground. Shows his qualities while giving the public arm around the shoulder.
Win win.
For Martin that is.

For Lenny, needing a public show of support is failure. Ideally they should be singing his praises for the job being done, nothing else. I notice the journo Brian Mc Nally has went from ‘surely one of the brightest young managers in Britain’ to ‘sorry it’s not working we need the original Lenny back’.
That shows it’s not just those considered bambots which is an insult anyway given the collective hundreds of year’s witnessing the game etc. Every fan isn’t wrong, its that simple.

So please forgive me Martin if I give you and your quotes a rye smile and a shake of the head.
What good will they be to me at the end the season where it already sounds like you would say nine outta ten is spoiling, what’s the matter?

You would just never make that leap and ask why can we not win the tenth title despite the love of detective malarkey?
Or prefer not to ask?
Exactly.