Celtic boss Neil Lennon has a fresh public backer after Tony Pulis threw his weight behind the manager
Pulis was most recently manager of Sheffield Wednesday, the club from which Celtic this week completed the signing of Liam Shaw. The signing of the youngster has sparked fears that Lennon could be planning for next season. Even a five-match winning run has done nothing to ease the pressure.
This is something the Celtic boss has already confirmed that he is indeed doing. That’s despite the fact he’s 15 points behind Rangers, embarrassed us in Europe, and saw us bow out of the League Cup at the first hurdle to Ross County at Parkhead.
Yet despite Lennon’s wrap sheet this season, he still clearly has some big fans. One of them being Pulis – the former Premier League boss throwing his backing behind Lennon and claiming that the flak he’s received is undeserved.
As quoted by the Daily Record, Pulis said: “I’ve got great respect for Lenny. He’s a good manager who has done an unbelievable job. He’ll have more than enough knowledge and experience to let Liam know what’s expected and needed at Celtic.
“Neil has done a magnificent job in his three spells at Celtic – one as player and two as manager – and doesn’t deserve some of the criticism for one bad season.
“I know things haven’t gone as planned but I know from experience there can be mitigating circumstances which people don’t see and you can’t always make public. I understand that everything is heightened in Scotland this season because of 10 In A Row and all that but Neil is a good manager.”
Tony Pulis backing is admirable, but he clearly doesn’t see the full picture on Celtic boss Lennon
You can understand Pulis’ backing from Lennon. It’s not as if he’ll have been clued on an all of the events at Celtic this year.
In fac the same could be said for any passive neutral, particularly down south. If you haven’t taken a keen interest in events at the club this year then our criticism of the manager will indeed look extremely harsh.
However, Pulis doesn’t seem to be aware of this. He doesn’t seem to be aware of how much disdain the manager has treated supporters with this season. He doesn’t seem to be aware of how dismissive he’s been of key supporter concerns throughout the campaign.
It’s not just about losing the 10, although that plays a big part. It’s about signing players and regressing them. Not playing his best players for the first five months of the season. Happily throwing away the 10 just so he can stay in the gig.
The chances are, if you asked Lennon at the start of the season whether he should remain in the job should he lose the league – his answer would’ve been no. To have surrendered it so meekly? He would’ve laughed at the prospect of him staying on. He’s labeled criticism against him as nothing more than “hysteria” [BBC].
The disconnect between the supporters and the football club isn’t solely down to Lennon. There are other factors for the struggle. However, nobody can look at the Celtic manager’s situation and say he truly deserves to stay on….unless of course you’re a passive observer.
In other news, these Aberdeen fans couldn’t believe what they saw at Celtic Park last night.
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