A win is all that matters. Think their keeper said it after the match or it was Kris Boyd, it all blurred into one nightmare and I couldn’t face the thought of checking on what either of those actually said.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t see a way of winning the game only losing it in all too familiar circumstances namely, a stupid sending off and a goal from a set piece.
Admittedly, at best it was 50:50 for the sending off but Bitton was culpable and got the wrong side of Morelos. He should have raked down the back of the Colombian’s leg and then put man and ball in row z, none of which is even a yellow card in Mr Madden’s book.
Until that point Bitton was having a good game. However, I was reminded of the bad old days under Deila when we were rightly heavily criticised for playing Bitton as a central defender. Just to confirm, he is still listed as a midfielder on the Celtic website.
I guess he wouldn’t have played if Jullien had been fit. It is also worth noting that Ajer was a midfielder who we later converted to a centre back and then a right back. I thought Ajer played well today but there is a bit of a worrying theme developing here.
With Shane Duffy failing to shine and Jullien out for 4 months, we are royally screwed at the back. We need to bring in an actual central defender as a matter of urgency. We can’t keep hoping that the current players will improve, they have all been shown to be on the wrong side of history.
Chris Sutton said at the start of last season that either Lennon or Gerrard would be out of a job by the end of that season. He was wrong but I know what he meant in that whoever failed to win the league would be sacked. They decided to stick with Gerrard because it supported their narrative that they could have won the league had it gone the distance. To be honest, their results and performances in Europe did strengthen his position. Anyway, big Sutton’s statement is equally valid this season and you don’t have to be a clairvoyant to see which one of them is for the off.
This season is just about over for us, the novelty of winning the Scottish Cup twice in one season would be poor recompense. Therefore, we need to prepare for next season. We can blame the players, the manager, the coaching staff and/or the Board but that gets us nowhere. The only question at the moment is, can Neil Lennon take us to where we want to be?
As my Liverpool supporting friend said, Neil Lennon is not the long term answer. I can’t argue with that and I don’t think Neil Lennon could either. We need to get rid of the players who don’t want to be here and we need to strengthen the defence. Not sure when the Board’s review in January will take place but letting things drift until the end of the season would not be advisable and certainly not acceptable.
Chris Wotherspoon
You are correct. I am afraid that Lenny must be for the off. We did not have players in place at the start of the season. Lenny could not decide on his team, let alone his tactics. Three at the back does not work. He played players in positions that they were not comfortable in. No wonder Barkas was all the jitters. No wonder Duffy lost form. Duffy was getting a good relationship with Julien only for Lenny dropping him and Julien getting badly injured. Duffy is an old fashioned centre half not Liam Brady. Stop trying to make him play like Brady. We need a new manager by the end of the month if possible. The mistake Lenny made today was playing Bitton. He can pass the ball and tackle. He is a player. He is not a centre half though. We were found out because of Lennys mistake as we were found out by his mistakes earlier in the season. He is a great Celtic man , a great bloke. We love him and care about him but it’s time to go. We need an experienced manager. If not experienced, someone who is tactically aware.