There may have been real doubts amongst the Celtic support when Neil Lennon was appointed manager shortly after the Scottish Cup Final back in May.
Partly, that might have been down to the poor performance Celtic put in when he was caretaker manager last season.
The doubts would have grown following the 4-3 loss to Cluj in the Champions League qualifiers. However, Lennon has answered his critics since then.
The recent 2-0 win over Rangers at Ibrox was a tactical masterclass. However, that game is an outlier for how Celtic have performed this season.
Lennon seems determined to play differently than he did when he was caretaker manager. The statistic support the approach he is taking.
High goal average
Lennon has managed Celtic in 13 competitive games so far this season. In that time Celtic have scored 41 goals. That is an average of 3.15 goals per game.
That is an incredible goal total, that shows that Celtic are currently thriving under Lennon. It is highly unlikely that the total will last throughout the season.
Celtic will no doubt have spells where the goals don’t flow as much as they are right now. This could particularly be the case when the Hoops begin their Europa League campaign.
Tweak the tactics at times
However, as long as Celtic are scoring goals, Lennon’s approach shouldn’t change. He can tweak the tactics, as he did in the recent win at Ibrox.
Celtic still were dominant in that game though, and looked far more likely to score than Rangers did during the game.
Lennon has done an excellent job in recently silencing the doubters who didn’t want him to get the manager’s job on a permanent basis.
Of course, the exit from the Champions League was a very poor result, even Lennon himself would admit that. Since then though, things have been going well for the Hoops boss. He deserves plenty of credit for that.
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