Charlie Nicholas, who Neil Lennon recently called out, has actually moved to back the Celtic manager from calls for him to be sacked.
The Hoops supporters were furious on social media after Celtic lost 2-0 to rivals Rangers on Saturday. The loss led to plenty of replies to the club urging Lennon to be sacked from his position as manager.
Tempers also flared up between supporters and Lennon’s agent Martin Reilly, who ridiculously tried to defend the manager on social media in what was a shocking look for the club.
As expected, Lennon’s departure never arrived as he remains in the hot seat ahead of a crucial two games against AC Milan and Aberdeen respectively.
And whilst Nicholas had a pop at the performance, he also defended Lennon from calls to remove him. Speaking in his Scottish Daily Express column (print edition 20/10, page 56), Nicholas said the following:
“It is ludicrous that some Hoops fans are saying Celtic should get rid of manager Neil Lennon in the wake of their defeat to Rangers. Lennon, however, has to take his share of the blame because he got his team selection wrong. Yes, they were missing a few players on Saturday. But that can’t be used as an excuse.
“If Celtic didn’t think they were in for a proper league title battle, they should now. I just hope by the next Old Firm game that Lennon’s side have got their mojo back. Rangers have taken first blood but they are not favourites to win the league.
“Celtic’s mentality has always been to win big when it matters and this Rangers team has still to see things through. This is still a a very open title race but this Rangers win has created a significant interest in how the Hoops will now react.”
Nicholas could’ve been a lot harsher
In fairness to Nicholas, this is quite tame for him. He could’ve gone in a lot harsher, but for once has actually decided to defend Lennon a touch. A new leaf perhaps? We won’t count on it.
But it is surprising to see Nicholas still back Celtic for the title and be a bit more supportive of the club as a whole. After all, it wasn’t long ago that the manager took him to task for his overly-negative opinion on the transfer window (The Herald).
Yet even as the dust settles, for most of us this result and performance still feels unforgivable. Spare me the idea that Rangers could’ve had four or five though. They created next to nothing outside of the two gifts we gave them at the start of either half.
Where our performance fails to impress a support already frustrated by early-season performances was the lack of attacking impetus. The truth is we had just as many clear-cut chances as Rangers did – two. Moi Elyounoussi and Leigh Griffiths both missed one-on-ones in either half. We also ended the game with more possession too.
But we expect more in these games. Let the Rangers fans pretend they put in some sort of complete performance that could’ve resulted in a mauling. Celtic were simply let down by a lack of creativity in the final third once again.
If we can rediscover that mojo Nicholas is talking about then we can go to Ibrox confident in January. We should’ve offered more for the cost of squad that was on the pitch on Saturday, but the return of some of our big hitters will certainly be welcomed in our 2021 rematch.
In other news, an English club boss is looking to dash a potential Celtic opportunity “as quickly as possible”.
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