Celtic interim boss Neil Lennon will no doubt find it difficult to live up to the success delivered by Brendan Rodgers. He won every domestic honour he competed for before moving to Leicester City.
However, there is one aspect of Rodgers’ management that Lennon can improve on. That is, urging more caution when returning injured players to the first-team.
Dreadful performance
Case in point – Dedryck Boyata. He was out for weeks last season, but was thrown into the side against Rangers last March. He had a dreadful game, gifting Rangers a goal. But the Hoops won the match at Ibrox 3-2, so the gamble paid off.
That does not mean that it should be repeated. For example, Filip Benkovic is not far away from returning from injury. That does not mean that he should return to the team for the match against Rangers after the international break.
Better to be cautious
It is better to be cautious about these things. There’s no use in rushing Benkovic back. Should he get injured after making an early return he would be unlikely to play for the Hoops again.
Celtic do have a lot of injuries at the moment. But rushing players back into the side isn’t the way to go, even if the opponent is Rangers.
Hopefully Neil Lennon understands this, and urges caution in the weeks to come.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
