ONE benefit from bringing in a new manager – in whatever circumstances – is that he immediately provides a fresh pair of eyes and can see things differently to the guy he’s just replaced. We’ve been over the Rodgers story so there’s no need to re-visit that today but Neil Lennon’s arrival brought one change to the Celtic team on the park that’s worth noting.
Mikael Lustig replaced Jerry Toljan in the latter stages at Tynecastle with Celtic searching for a winner. John Kennedy had picked the starting eleven for that match but that substitution was very much a Lennon decision.
And then on Saturday at Easter Road Lustig was back in the team that started and played the full ninety minutes, moving in to central defence after Dedryck Boyata – who was an injury concern before the game – asked to come off after Scott Brown’s marvellous second goal.
Lustig’s contract ends in the summer but Celtic do have a one year option available. It looked increasingly like that was not going to be taken up under Rodgers who brought in Jerry Toljan on loan from Borussia Dortmund and brought him on for his debut after 45 minutes at McDiarmid Park and kept him in the team until he sneaked off to Leicester.
Toljan hadn’t played any first team football this season in Germany whereas Lustig had a punishing season last year for Celtic, then went to the World Cup with Sweden before being the first Celt back to from that tournament and was effectively straight back in the first team with European demands to contend with.
Yet in the games leading up to Toljan’s arrival, Lustig was excellent, creating four goals in two games.
With Rodgers gone Celtic need experienced guys like Scott Brown and Mikael Lustig in the dressing room and on the park and that is something that Neil Lennon recognises.
“I’m not writing him off, I know what he is capable of and what a player he is,” said Lennon to the media.
“What Mikael has done for the last seven or eight years is play non-stop football, whether it be 40 or 50 games a season here or European qualifiers, World Cup qualifiers, finals.
“He has been through the rigours of a physically demanding season.
‘He has been playing every game possible and eventually the fatigue or stiffness or whatever you want to call it creeps in. But this guy has been a top, top player for this club and a top player for his country as well and I think he’s got plenty to offer Celtic.”
And on his skipper Lennon believes that we are beginning to see the best of Scott Brown again now that his own future has been decided.
“I know what it’s like to be getting into your mid-30s when you’re not too sure of your next step and people are saying, ‘you can go to America or you can go to Australia’,” said Lennon.
“But he is still more than good enough to play here for another couple of years. He has a contract and I’m delighted because it will settle him down.
“We are seeing the best of Scott Brown again, whereas before he was maybe a bit off the boil because there were other things swimming around his head.”
Another fine Celt who is just about to enter the veteran stage is Scotty Sinclair. He’s been so important to the Celtic side under Rodgers – winning Player of the Year awards, being the top scorer and so on – yet he is out of contract in the summer and is waiting to hear from Celtic on whether the club wish to activate their one year contract extension.
With Neil Lennon merely an interim boss for now it’s something that Peter Lawwell will have to shoulder but Lenny will no doubt have his say. He’s also prepared to sit down with Dedryck Boyata to get his story and find out if there is a place for him at Celtic in the post Rodgers era.
Lustig and Sinclair want to stay and bring so much to the team.
