Paul Lambert hasn’t reached the same conclusion on Neil Lennon regarding his old team-mate continuing as Celtic manager, as the likes of John Hartson, Chris Sutton and Stan Petrov. Those three legends of Martin O’Neill’s fabulous side from two decades ago all have come to the conclusion – however reluctantly – that Lenny’s time is up.
However perhaps because Lambert has been a manager himself he is much more cautious about reaching that conclusion and has an abundance of sympathy for what Neil Lennon is going through this season as the dream of reaching ten in a row ended in January amid a row about a few pints poolside in Dubai.
“Regardless of what happens this season, his reputation will never be tarnished,” Lambert told Daily Record. “The Celtic support is hurting right now and rightly so, but when the dust settles, and it eventually will, Neil will be revered once again.
“You’ve got to remember Neil really has given his professional life to Celtic. He was an unbelievable player who was a massive part of the Martin O’Neill team which, in my opinion, galvanised the Celtic support back then. He has won silverware both as a player and manager, in two different spells,” Lambert added.
As Celtic fans wait the detail on the promised January review – yesterday the usual suspects close to the CEO revealed that Lennon would remain in place until the summer, Eddie Howe isn’t interesting in managing in Scotland and the entire football operation will be overhauled in the summer – Lambert expects a full and thorough inquest to take place.
“I’m sure there will be a full review when the time is right. I am not meaning the manager’s position, but a more general assessment of how things have reached this point.
“I’m not quite sure that is right now but certainly in the weeks and months ahead everyone connected with Celtic will need to sit down and look at where things have gone wrong.
“Did the club hold on to players who probably wanted away a season too long? Has the recruitment been as good as it needed to be? Has the pressure proven too much for some of the players?
“And Neil will have questions to answer too, of course. He’ll know and accept that.
“Winning every game from now until the end of the season isn’t going to put things right, it is too far gone, but with every point dropped it heaps more and more pain on the Celtic fans, so a strong run of results and performances will certainly make things a little easier for everyone.
“I think you need to forget about the title race and just try and restore some pride and dignity. Is it not how it should be but the Celtic players now need to focus fully on trying to make that gap at the end of the season as small as possible.
“Ultimately, it won’t make the slightest difference in terms of not achieving Ten-in-a-Row. But at least show some passion and recognise how badly you’ve let down the Celtic support.”
