Post-Europe fatigue a factor in Celtic’s domestic collapse

CELTIC have suffered three domestic defeats this season, each one coming three days after a Europa League assignment, with these reverses the product of three disastrous second-half showings. As Neil Lennon anticipates his team’s trip to Stade Rennais this week, he may look at what will immediately follow with dread. Though perhaps he would anyway, with Celtic having spectacularly collapsed on the home front. That aside, with one point from their two group games in the Europa League, rewards from a section that pits them also against Atletico Madrid and Udinese appear as if they could be scant. Penalties, however, could be major, as Celtic’s entire season has come apart on the back of these early post-European losses at home to St Johnstone and away to Rangers then Hearts.

“It’s just an obvious statistic that the three defeats have come off the back of Thursday night games,” Lennon says. “I don’t know if it is a mental fatigue or a physical fatigue but it is something we have got to deal with. Teams in the past have done it. While being a young team – and I am fed up saying that – we have to gain that experience and whether the game is a tough game physically or a quick game, the European games are maybe a different style of football than we are used to, you need a bit more game intelligence which takes a bit more out of you mentally.

“We just have to look at the body language of the players on the day prior to the game and see if there is any sign of fatigue there. I felt in the Hearts game we were in control and then let in a poor goal from our point of view. We missed very good chances and whether that’s after the Thursday game or not. It is a basic of the game. We have to recover quicker and be aware the priority is the championship and we can’t afford any more problems with playing the European game on Thursday.”

In recent weeks, the average age of Celtic’s senior side has be around the 24 mark. Asking these players to peak twice – with two of the losses at Ibrox and Tynecastle – in a matter of days may be asking too much. Yet, Lennon, as it stands, doesn’t believe the answer would be playing an understrength team in Europe and effectively writing off the tournament. That could bring its own pitfalls.

“I don’t really have that luxury at the moment [of playing two different teams], plus you have to be careful of morale as well,” Lennon says. “If you go with a shadow team and lose heavily what sort of psychological effect will that have on the team and the club as a whole? We want to make a fist of Europe and when I played, I liked to play in the European games and the domestic games. Players want to play. Maybe that mindset has changed over the last few years, but I have had no complaints from players in that respect.”

The Irishman might have complaints about them in so many other respects. Even more so with Rennes precisely the sort of team who have exploited Celtic’s defensive deficiencies ruthlessly in recent seasons. Lennon knows the task ahead.

“They are a good counter-attacking team and Stephane Dalmat is an excellent player. He could be a key player for them. They have got good pace in the team as well, particularly in wide areas. I am going out to watch them [this evening] when they play Lorient. It gives you a better view when you go and watch them in the flesh rather than on TV. They are a good side, they were pretty unfortunate not to beat Madrid and were excellent in Italy for long periods of the game as well. They are very good going forward and that’s something we have to be mindful of.” Or scared stiff by.