Neil Lennon has confirmed that he has had a heart-to-heart with Celtic centre-back Shane Duffy after a troubling start to his Parkhead career.
Duffy has been caught out with both his lack of pace and positional sense since arriving from Brighton as he looks to acclimatise to both a new style of play and a high line.
The Celtic boss was left fuming this week as he defended the Irishman from some over-the-top criticism from the press. Lennon particularly had a go at Kris Commons, who labeled Duffy “rank rotten” after an error at Pittodrie on Sunday (Daily Record).
And now the manager has revealed he’s had to have a one-on-one chat with Duffy, who appears to be hurt by how things have gone so far.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, the Celtic boss said: “Shane is a big, strong boy. I had a chat with him the other night. He’s feeling it but he will come through it.
“We just need to show him a bit of patience. He made a mistake at the weekend, but the vitriol that comes after it is incredible. Again, it is my job to support him and that is exactly what I will do.
“It isn’t the first time players have been thrown into the lion’s den in terms of insults and criticism. I know what Shane is going through but he has the character and personality to bounce back straight away.”
Criticism must be balanced after Lille game
None of us will assume that Celtic are simply just going to turn up in Lille and be turned over easily. That’s not what we want to see tonight and we should all have trust in this talented group of players that they’ll put up a decent fight of it.
However, even the most optimistic of Celtic supporters won’t privately be thinking that we’re going to pull this off, and if we don’t, then criticism will have to be cooled considering the opposition.
If Duffy is caught out by Lille’s pace in behind, or again makes some sloppy passes out of defence, the last thing he needs is a host of fingers pointing towards him. He deserves some time to get his head in the right place, and considering all that he’s going through, judging him on a game against a side as quality-filled as Lille would be unfair.
Hopefully, we can come out of France with the three points, but there will be plenty of defending to do regardless of what the outcome is. Seeing how Duffy competes against the likes of Jonathan David and Burak Yilmaz will be an interesting watch.
Remember, Duffy isn’t alien to this sort of quality. He’s come up against the likes of Sergio Aguero, Roberto Firmino, and Harry Kane during his Brighton days. Internationally, meanwhile, he’s played against more of the world’s best and starred against them too. Lille won’t scare him by any stretch.
But it’s telling that he’s feeling the heat. It’s time for us to lay off of him now and focus on what’s important – getting him back into the right frame of mind. Hopefully, he surprises us tonight and dominates in France, but if he doesn’t, it’s important not to go too overboard.
In other news, Lille boss Christophe Galtier has provided an assessment of the Timothy Weah state of play.
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