Celtic legend Kenny Dalglish has picked out David Turnbull and Ismaila Soro for praise as he delivered his Neil Lennon verdict.
The Hoops haven’t had enough on-field leaders this season in a grim campaign. We all know everything that’s gone wrong this season at this point, so we won’t go listing out the failures again.
Even so, there have been one or two bright spots. The emergence of Turnbull and Soro over the course of the last two months has been a welcome boost for the club.
And as Dalglish urged the rest of the Celtic team to give them some help, he delivered his verdict on whether Lennon will go or not.
As quoted by the Sunday Post, King Kenny said: “Some people were calling for change in the manager’s seat four or five months ago, but the club stood by Neil to give him as much opportunity as possible.
“Neil could call time on himself, but I don’t expect that to happen. Even now, he will believe he can get it all going again. Seeing his fighting spirit, and how much he is willing to battle for a more successful future, the players should know they need to up their game. They need to do more.
“David Turnbull and Ismaila Soro have been the shining lights in the past few weeks. There needs to be a greater contribution from others. ”
Dalglish isn’t wrong, but what is there for Lennon to turn around now?
I don’t know about you, but as a Celtic fan, when I hear the phrase “Neil believes he can turn it around”, I automatically think “winning the title”.
But even the manager himself has more or less admitted that’s beyond us [BBC]. So, when I hear it from Kenny, it makes me wonder what on earth there is now to turn around?
We’re at Rangers’ mercy this season. The title is theirs to throw away. And even that would be the biggest collapse I think I would ever have seen from a football team.
If you’re suggesting that Lennon believes he can stay for the summer window and build a team capable of winning the title next season? Unacceptable. That’s not a notion that can be entertained. Neil had his chance to be immortal this season and has made a mess of it. That’s just the facts regardless of whether you’re Lennon In or Lennon Out at this point.
Lennon’s chance to shine was this season. Anything that could be turned around had to happen in the 2020/21 campaign. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can turn around the sheer fury and disappointment at losing the 10. A few wins isn’t turning it around.
So spare me the idea there’s any recovery process from here. The damage has been done. Still the board doesn’t listen.
In other news, 67HH writer John McGinley discusses why this could be Lennon’s last week at Celtic.
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