Neil Lennon calms down Celtic hype chat

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Neil Lennon has tried to play down all the hype around his Celtic side by saying that “it’s very early days” in the season.

The Hoops have been near faultless under the Northern Irishman’s tutelage so far this campaign, with the Champions League defeat to Cluj the only black mark. The midweek success against Partick Thistle was the side’s eighth win from eight domestic games.

However, Lennon is keen to play things down despite admitting that things are going well at present.

“We’re playing with good intensity at the minute, both on and off the ball,” Lennon told press on Friday. (Official Celtic website)

“It’s important we maintain that standard as the season goes on.

“There may be a dip here and there, but we are taking our chances very well, and there’s a clinical element about the way we’re playing and that comes from confidence as well.

“We’ve got pace in the team, we’ve got quality in the team but it’s very early days. We aren’t even out of September yet and I know how quickly things can flip, negatively and positively, so we’re just keeping a perspective on things.”

Lennon must not pay attention to Celtic hype

Lennon is right to urge caution. The reaction after the Cluj defeat may have surprised even him, given the way we had played our matches up to that point. Everything was going swimmingly until the Romanians put four past us in Glasgow – and then it all turned a little sour.

But Lennon has since got the team back on track and we are now playing the best football we have in several years. The team look hungry to succeed, score goals at one end and keep them out at the other.

You feel that Lennon has built up a lot more credibility with the Celtic support in recent weeks. Fans are slowly turning to realise that he is the right man to lead us forward and one bad result shouldn’t change that.

Lennon’s side should never get complacent. That ability to keep winning became a hallmark under Brendan Rodgers. It seems that Lennon, and his summer recruits, are starting to find the same habit.