On Thursday 5 November 2020 Celtic were beaten 4-1 by Sparta Prague to put them on brink of Europa League elimination; Neil Lennon’s side had won only one of their last six games in all competitions and the former Celtic boss proclaimed post-match:
“There needs to be a culture change within the club. I need to look at the culture, get them more hungry”
Lennon may have been only questioned on the outcome of the game and the level of performance his players had put in that night, but his response indicated there were more structural issues at Celtic in need of remedy. After all, to question the culture at a club signifies something far deeper requiring correction. Tactical tweaks, or a change in formation was not going to fix that.
We all had our moments where we realised that fateful season was not only going off-track but was likely unsavable – and that night may have been yours and it was certainly the time when The Celtic Star stated that enough was enough.
Having the manager state so publicly that the issues ran far deeper than a poor European performance was the moment you really started to question if the man in charge of instilling that culture had lost the influence within the changing room he required to impact it.
Lennon lasted in the role until the February the following year. However, the issue of culture change wasn’t fixed until the arrival of Ange Postecoglou and his squad rebuild of the Summer of 2021, which focused as much on the character of the players he signed as the footballing ability they possessed.
Replacing players who had become complacent or bored was something that Lennon was perhaps aware of. Yet, in the midst of a pandemic hit season, there was unlikely to be much he could do to motivate players, who, in a limbo season, already had one foot out the door.
It was always going to take a new voice and a fresh outlook to change the footballing department at Celtic, but few of us would have believed just one man could start that ball rolling. Fewer still would have believed it could be done whilst also playing entertaining football and winning a League and League Cup in the season of transition.
Ange Postecoglou managed to revamp a playing squad and change the culture in an inordinately short timescale, and speaking at yesterday’s press conference ahead of tonight’s game with Hearts at Celtic Park, the Celtic boss highlighted the key to that culture change lay in the people he chose to retain at the club and those he added to it.
“That was one of the key things that I’ve always felt and I’ve always believed that culture is people. Irrespective of what kind of environment you want to set and what kind of behaviours you want to have, it’s a lot easier to do that if you have the right people.
“And by the right people I mean people who have the values that you’re looking for, the kind of character and personality that you’re looking for. That includes staff, that includes footballers and then those kinds of things then become a lot easier and almost self-fulfilling because I’m not having to tell people what they need to do every minute of the day.
“There’s an understanding there, that because they’re all like-minded and have similar values and similar ambitions drive them. If you go in and try and change the culture by putting rules in place or demanding certain things it’s not going to work if you don’t have the right people.
For me, it always begins and ends with people. You get the right people around you then you’ve got more chance of creating the environment and the culture you want.”
For what it’s worth I certainly believe Neil Lennon knew what players he wanted to keep and what players required to be moved on. However, he was likely hamstrung by the footballing landscape at the time and the financial uncertainty surrounding it.
We all know now which players were the Wantaways, and we all know now we would have been better off moving them on at the start of that season, but all of that is with the benefit of hindsight. Because few of us would have wanted some of those big-name performers moved on and the playing squad shifting into uncertainty when ten-in-a-row was up for grabs and the guts of the Celtic squad had won an incredible Quadruple Treble.
I reckon Lennon did know that, but those in control of the purse-strings rightly or wrongly decided to stick rather than twist in the summer of 2020, and Celtic and Neil Lennon paid a hefty price.
As Ange Postecoglou marks his 100th game in charge at Celtic tonight, he has taken Celtic on a long journey in a short space of time. If you had asked me how long it would take to modernise Celtic’s footballing culture, when Ange arrived on his lonesome, I would have given the new man until this summer – two years into the job – before I’d have expected to see the fruits of that labour. Remarkably Ange Postecoglou did it in less than half that time.
The football we play now is a joy to watch. The evolution of the playing squad, into a group of players who want to be here, is only ever interrupted by those who the manager wishes to move on, or when he senses their focus may be drifting from the task at hand. Meanwhile the togetherness exhibited by the group and the connection with the support is arguably unique.
When Neil Lennon spoke of a change in culture that night in November 2020 the game was already up for him. When Celtic waited still longer to change the manager, that process was delayed all the more. Yet whether by accident or design, and we all have our own individual take on that, Celtic landed the jackpot when they appointed Ange Postecoglou on 10 June 2021.
And as we wait for Ange Postecoglou’s 100th game to begin tonight, it is worth remembering the task this Celtic manager took on – and how one man has rebuilt the entire footballing culture at Celtic.
Niall J
Pushing the launch of Matthew Marr’s debut Celtic book – ‘The BOULD BHOYS – Glory to their name’ back a week to Friday 24 March. Thanks to everyone who has ordered since we announced the book last night via an interview with the author. Please note that all pre-ordered books will be personally signed by Matthew Marr and you can order below if you’d like a signed copy posted out to you 24 March.
READ THIS...‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ by Matthew Marr
