Celtic boss reveals Peter Lawwell support and gives James Forrest update

Neil Lennon says he “absolutely” retains the full backing of the Celtic board in hitting out the “hysteria” that has ensued following three games without a win for the Scottish champions

Celtic manager Neil Lennon believes critics should watch their mouths after "hysterical" reaction to club's three-game run without a win (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

The 49-year-old maintains he has been through “a lot worse – a lot worse – as player and manager” than going into Thursday’s exacting Europa League encounter in Lille on the back of 3-3 draw in Aberdeen that was preceded by defeats to Rangers and AC Milan.

The form slump – “we are entitled to a tough week now and then,” said Lennon – has prompted a blizzard of conjecture over his job. However, he maintains there will be no cold shouldering of him from the club’s powerbrokers.

“I speak to Peter [Lawwell, Celtic chief executive] every day,” he said “We had a board meeting on Friday and that went pretty smoothly. I’m not out here on my own. I have got great support from Peter and the board, I have got great support from my backroom team who are really strong at the minute. That shows the inner strength we have here at the club.

“We are very, very tight. The players are in a good place. I do think they are getting scrutinised to the nth degree. Some of the individual criticism is unpalatable, but it’s my job to protect them from that and show trust in them. And I do trust them. They are a brilliant bunch. They have proved themselves time and time again. We are only in October. We have got a lot of work to do, but that is no different to any other season.”

Lennon dismisses as “nonsense” the “over the top” reaction to recent results, calling two newspaper polls asking whether he should be sacked “completely disrespectful” to him.

“Where did that come from? I haven’t seen that in 20 years. All of a sudden there is this groundswell after a tough week. When we went into the international break we had won eight games in a row and kept four clean sheets. What happened afterwards was the squad was disrupted and a little bit disjointed and we were playing good teams. But I have seen an improvement in their performances as we have gone along. Players are coming back, players are getting fitter. We have got a lot to look forward to. This knee jerk reaction stuff? You need to get used to it. But it is well over the top and some of our ex-players haven’t covered themselves in glory either.”

Lennon says he prefers to focus on recent positives in confirming Odsonne Edouard and Nir Bitton have returned to training following their recovery from Covid-19. It is hoped both will travel to France, though, he seemed to suggest Thursday might be too early for them to start.

Meanwhile, Celtic will have the prognosis on James Forrest’s ankle problem in the coming days after the winger visited a specialist as a result of the injury not healing as expected. There is no timescale on a possible return for Christopher Jullien either, with the defender scheduled to undergo another week of intensive treatment in Germany on a back complaint. It is believed inflammation of the spine is proving particularly painful, though no major issues have shown up in scans.

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