Neil Lennon: "One of hardest weeks" as Celtic manager - but Chris Sutton is over-reacting
The 49-year-old has been in management for more than a decade. However, the losses to Rangers and AC Milan - only the fourth time in almost six years at the Celtic helm he has suffered consecutive defeats - and the squad disarray caused by Covid-19 and injury absences mean he has rarely encountered a spell as problematic as the one that now provides his team with a fraught assignment in Aberdeen.
“It's been one of the hardest weeks I've had as a manager,” Lennon said. “The international break was really tough because we were getting one call-off after another. We didn't get the players together until Friday and had to try and prepare them for a huge game [against Rangers].
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Hide Ad“Off the back of that, we had to play a really good side in AC Milan. I'm bitterly disappointed that we lost because I hate losing at any time, especially at home. We started brightly but gave away a really poor goal. We need to tidy up defensively in certain areas.
“But in the second half we were excellent and could have got something. That gives me a lot of things to think positively about going into another big week [with Lille in the Europa League and the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen to follow Pittodrie]. But it's been very stop-start either due to injuries or the players' season being disrupted. We just need to settle everyone down and get a consistent flow – not just in terms of team selection but for games and training purposes as well.”
When AC Milan made it 2-0 just gefore half-time in Thursday’s Europa League opener, Lennon’s former Parkhead team-mate Chris Sutton stated on BT Sport that Celtic had hit “rock bottom”. A partial scramble upwards was then achieved through putting the encounter in the balance with a second half counter, before the concession of an added-time third. Precisely why the Celtic manager isn’t having such a bleak assessment of where his team may have found themselves.
“To say we'd hit rock bottom – that is hysteria. I can't buy into that,” Lennon said. “Chris has a job to do, like all pundits. But you don't have to agree with their opinion. Listen, we were playing AC Milan, who are top of Serie A. There were a lot of aspects where I thought we were better than Milan, particularly in the second half. We were very strong and we had a good appetite. We had more energy than the weekend, our body language was a lot better. And in the second half we were the better team. We just lacked a bit of cutting edge and quality. We certainly deserved our goal and went all in to try and get something.”
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Hide AdThe notion that there is something missing in Lennon as the result of the Irishman affecting a more “measured” response to the twin imposters is another well-versed criticism that the Celtic manager won’t countenance. “It would be a mistake for people to think I've not got the same fire in my belly that I had before, “he said “I have it more than ever... especially when my back's against the wall.”