Major irony alert here as Kris Commons complains about ‘Bad Apples’ in the Celtic dressing room that is unsettling the club and effectively putting a spanner in the works of the Ten-in-a-Row season.
Using his usual Daily Mail column, the former forward who famously undermined Ronny Deila during his two years as Celtic manager, reckons that something similar is happening to Neil Lennon at the moment, so suppose in this instance we can regard Commons as something of an expert.
“Celtic look devoid of any rhythm or consistency,” Commons noted. “That’s now two wins in eight matches in all competitions. If they keep slipping up, their games in hand are going to become irrelevant.
"All it takes is for two or three bad apples to spoil things in the dressing room." – Kris Commons
You're right Kris, sometimes all it takes is one bad apple. pic.twitter.com/8TamS2KQyR
— Fitzy 🏴 (@Fitzy_072) November 23, 2020
“They are now 11 points behind their rivals with two games in hand. So you could argue that (the)Rangers are effectively five points ahead on merit. But that’s assuming Celtic will win those two games in hand. Would anyone have total confidence in them getting the job done? I very much doubt it.
“(The)Rangers aren’t quite over the hill and out of sight just yet. But, at this rate, Celtic will need a pair of binoculars to see them by the time the teams meet next at Ibrox on 2 January.
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“For Lennon to call some of the players ‘lazy’ shows the depth of the problems he’s currently facing as manager. As a player, a comment like that should really hurt you. To be called ‘lazy’ is pretty much the worst thing a manager can possibly say about you.
“But I can fully understand where Lennon is coming from. There are certain players in this Celtic squad who just don’t look interested any more. Their attitude is leaving a lot to be desired and, not for the first time this season, Lennon has felt the need to make that known publicly.
“The likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and James Forrest would run through brick walls for Celtic and fully understand what’s at stake this season. But how many others can you really say that about?
“There are too many players in this team who, frankly, look like they couldn’t care less about Ten-in-a-Row. All it takes is for two or three bad apples to spoil things in the dressing room. If they start downing tools, it can begin to spread and become a major problem,” Commons stated.
“This is one of the biggest seasons in the club’s history. If some players aren’t giving every ounce of effort, then they really shouldn’t be anywhere near the place. I still firmly believe Lennon is the right man for the job and, in a way, Saturday’s result showed that he retains the support of the vast majority of the players.
“You don’t fight back from 2-0 down unless you’re fully behind the manager and playing for him.But there’s clearly an attitude problem with certain individuals in the squad. Maybe some of them feel like they should have already left the club and secured a big-money move elsewhere. Maybe the Covid crisis has stopped that from happening. But, ultimately, that doesn’t matter. You can’t just down tools and spit the dummy. You’ve got to suck it up and get on with it. But the worry among supporters is that Celtic’s season is disappearing down the drain.”
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