THE long overdue pressure mounting on Peter Lawwell is probably taking some of the heat off Neil Lennon’s tactical horror show against Cluj on Tuesday night and while the Club and the Chief Executive appear to be taking a vow of silence, or simply lying low, the manager won’t be afforded that privilege. They can run but they can’t hide forever. The manager however will always have to front up almost immediately.
Celtic play the league Cup tie against Dunfermline at Celtic Park on Saturday and on paper it may not look like the most challenging of fixtures but for Neil Lennon and his backroom staff it’s a chance to show lessons have been learned and all eyes will be on them. We can no longer use this game as a Saturday off for the established players. A full strength, first choice team is now necessary as we defend the first trophy of our Treble Treble.
Many questions have been raised regarding the first eleven and the use of the squad since the defeat to the Romanian champion’s midweek. Be it the never to be repeated Callum McGregor experiment at left back to accommodate Olivier Ntcham in midfield or the fact £10 million worth of new signings were sat on the substitutes bench. We’ve questioned the disappointing game management of chasing a tie while we were in the lead twice, up to and including the bizarre use of the substitutes. There are even rumours and some strong ones too that certain players omissions and other players inclusions may not entirely be down to the manager.
Whether Neil Lennon answers these questions or skirts around them or even if he isn’t asked them at all it is fairly inconsequential now. That horse has bolted and we can only now look forward.
Neil Lennon needs to show he has full control over team selection and that he can choose any player contracted and registered in a Celtic jersey as he sees fit. If that’s somehow not been happening up to now then Lennon has to close his ears to the voices he doesn’t have to listen to, even if they are powerful voices. The buck stops with Lennon himself when it comes to the team on the park, there are no acceptable alternatives to that. His job will depend on his own independence.
The thing that stands out so far is that Celtic are flying in terms of offensive play but we look like we’re likely to concede with a similar regularity. Seven goals conceded in the last 3 games warrants some introspection. You could argue that the shipping of goals comes as a trade off to the attacking play but it doesn’t.
The real issue Celtic have had is not having a settled back four. Up to midweek there have been excuses for that. Be it suspensions to Simunovic and Jullien, Ajer having to flit between right back and central defence, the late arrival of El Hamed or the fact Christopher Jullien needed a bit of work to get up to speed. On Tuesday night those excuses ran out.
When you only have five recognised defenders to fill four positions you don’t really have too many hard and fast decisions to make when they are all fit and available. To make a mess of that particular puzzle was poor decision making.
All the evidence you need of that is the erratic form suddenly shown by Scott Bain. This season has seen the keeper throw in some shaky performances before it culminated in his worst ever display on Tuesday night. The fact he’s now injured and Craig Gordon will step up is one less decision Lennon and the coaching team have to make. Craig Gordon now picks himself.
At this stage of the season we should know what our best team is and that begins with a goalkeeper and back four. From now and for the next seven or eight games we need where at all possible to stabilise that defence. Pick your four defenders, stick with them. No more twisting, no more experimentation, no more appeasing, no more loyalty. Just the best. Pick the four and run with it unless injury or suspension get in the way.
Celtic lost a whole back four at the end of the season. Lustig, Boyata, Benkovic and Tierney would easily be the first choice defence for many of us and for whatever reason they have all moved on. Replacing the depth required has been a slow process and while we seriously lack cover the bones of a decent back four is there.
At right back Anthony Ralston is clearly not trusted and Elhamed has looked the part. Easy choice then.
At left back we have Boli Bolignoli and only Jonny Hayes approaching anything like an alternative choice and Jonny is no full back. Get the £3 million player back in the team and let him settle in. Ignore all other noise on the matter. Just play him and give him the time required to see what he’s got.
In central defence it’s always going to be Kris Ajer isn’t it? In top form, we now have a right back so let’s not move him now unless injury dictates a change.
There is only one other choice to make. Christopher Jullien or Jozo Simunovic? For me we play Jullien. The reason for this is he can play every week. He’s fit enough and will only get match sharpness by hulking that big frame through seven or eight consecutive games. Jozo Simunovic as much as he’s a personal favourite of mine and a damn fine defender, he cannot be relied on to play all the time. This we’re told is due to plastic pitches and the effect they have on his body. Therefore he has to drop out for the guy who can cope with all surfaces.
In midfield we have a lot of options and most can cover each other. Brown and McGregor together with Christie further forward. Mikey Johnston on the left, Forrest on the right and Edouard up front. That’s the current best team on form.
Bitton can cover for Brown if required, Christie can drop deeper if Callum needs to drop out, Ntcham can play the Christie role when that happens and we have Sinclair to cover Mikey Johnston. Shved is more than capable of keeping Forrest on his toes and Griffiths will be champing at the bit if French Eddy has one of his duvet days.
The defence has valid excuses for lacking in numbers, criminally so in fact, you’d think our scouting had been mothballed wouldn’t you? From middle to front we are very well served indeed. This has been backed up with a number of different scorers and some of the finest attacking play Celtic have produced in the last couple of seasons.
What we need to stop doing is keeping Sinclair away from the match day squad. Mikey Johnston has that shirt and he’s earned it. Lewis Morgan has in no way shown he’s the first choice deputy ahead of Scotty Sinclair. It’s either a blind spot with Lennon or Sinclair is suddenly getting the cold shoulder as he’s a big earner and others want him gone. Either way it needs to stop. Lennon needs to show with this that he has full control. The same with Ntcham. He’s fine as cover for Christie and he does rather well in that position. Any deeper than that and his defensive frailties and lack of concentration leave us exposed. He also simply cannot play with Brown. It’s as much evident as the fact Callum McGregor isn’t a left back.
We play through the next few games in all competitions with a consistent unchanging back four and goalkeeper until we can really judge their inadequacies and strengths.
We start on Saturday as we mean to go on.
Niall J
Also on The Celtic Star…
‘The board have been absolutely top class with me,’ says Lenny – No FF return as Bain back next week…see HERE.
Yellow means AIK’s 17 goal striker Elyounoussi is suspended for trip to Celtic…see HERE.
Celtic v AIK – ‘Better look out the banners for the upper tiers,’ Celtic stung by massive fan Backlash…see HERE.
Ajer Calf Fattening – What happens when we run out of £20million plus players to sell?…see HERE.
Four Celtic Men – More Supporters’ Feedback, but is Lawwell Listening?…see HERE.
The time for change at Celtic has come…see HERE.
