The Offical Glasgow Celtic thread

[illdecide]

The flip side of the coin...


Neil Lennon is under pressure as Celtic manager right now, the boss has overseen a poor start to the season and it has many supporters looking for a change in management at the club.

There are plenty of people who believe standards have slipped dramatically since the days of Brendan Rodgers and while we can't speak to that too much at present we have been giving a massive insight into Neil Lennon's first run as Celtic boss and you have to hope the Irishman has picked up better habits the second time around.

GIGPOD interviewed former Neil Lennon signing Kelvin Wilson and covered a variety of topics with the ex-Celtic player.

During the interview Wilson hits on the following points:


Lack of opposition knowledge
No professional diets implemented
Was shocked at the healthy food Nottingham Forest made the players eat after his Celtic stint.
Very little shape training, more fitness drills.
This was not an interview where Kelvin was trying to discredit Neil, before anyone thinks there was an axe to grind. The Englishman was quite complimentary of the Celtic manager and enjoyed his time at the club.

"I can probably recall maybe once or twice doing shape on the training ground with Neil Lennon.

"It was always drills, fitness was massive. He loved running us so we were a fit team.


"But we all wanted to play for Neil. And we all wanted success ourselves, we wanted to win titles, and be playing in the Champions League.

"I think as a player you have got to want that. But what I am seeing – and I don't know, I don't speak to many of the lads, I am not around it – but it is like a lot of the lads are playing for themselves. Playing for a move. Or playing because they want to get out."

"And that wasn't on the training pitch, it was on the video.

"We would get to the team hotel, whether that was home or away, and we would go down to dinner at 7.

"We would eat dinner and while we were eating dinner he would get their last game up on the projector and play it.

"So we would be at dinner watching bits of it. Then he would stop it and go through a few bits of it, but it was only 20 minutes of it, hardly anything.

"And I think that was because he was so confident in his players."



"Lenny didn't really care what we had. Although if performances on the park weren't going well, then I am sure he would have looked at that.

"We ate what we want, but it wasn't McDonald's and Burger Kings, things like that. It was steak and chips and chicken, things like that.

"It was good food, but I got a bit of a reality check when I went to Forest, going into the canteen.

"I was thinking 'I don't want to eat this', because it was food that was tasteless and wasn't nice but they were really big on the nutrition side.

"At Celtic, you could eat what you want, you could have a can of Irn Bru at dinner, things like that!

"But I think it is different now, different with players. Times are changing for the better in that sense."

On Celtic's current form, Wilson admitted it has been unfortunate:

"It is unfortunate that it is the ten in a row season where this is happening.

"I have no doubt that Neil Lennon knows what he is going to do.

"But it is not always about the manager, it is down to the players. And the players have to do it.

"Lenny can only do so much on the training ground and so much in meetings. And show the lads what it means to do. It is down to the lads to go out and do it.



"And the games that I have watched they haven't really – they have been really poor.

"I only know Browny and James Forrest, Callum McGregor, Tom Rogic, they are the only ones who are still there from when I was there. But when I was there it was a really, really tight group we had.

"We socialised a lot and the lads wouldn't rush away from the training ground. The lads would be there all day – even after training in the games room.

"Back then no-one was desperate for a move.

"If you notice, all those players who left back then, they left because bids came in for them, because of their performances, not because they wanted to leave.

"They were playing unbelievable week in week out, so that was obviously going to bring teams in who wanted to take them.

"They weren't playing well because they wanted a move, they were playing well because they wanted to win the league. Or they wanted to be top goalscorers like Gary Hooper, wanted to play Champions League, win cups.

"There weren't players thinking 'I want to get a move'. I think that is the difference with the team I played in."

Some of this stuff is very old school and we have to reiterate we hope this is nowhere near what's going on at Lennoxtown nowadays.


The lack of preparation is frightening. Neil Lennon's teams have always relied on individual brilliance rather than a collective team effort and it's clear why.

Neil was a student of Matin O'Neill and he done things very similar to what Kelvin describes but this was a time when you could get away with that; you just can't today!

[lurganblue]

[illdecide]

Once the GB turn on you you're screwed..

[Applesisapples]

Totally classless act. Lennon has given a lot to Celtic. By all means call from him to resign, but he does not deserve this.

[Angelo]

Totally classless act. Lennon has given a lot to Celtic. By all means call from him to resign, but he does not deserve this.

Why?

It's football, if the fans were about in normal times you know the type of abuse any manager would get in this situation. That's football particularly at a club like Celtic with a passionate fanbase and pressure to win trophies.

Lennon should be gone, he's still there because he's a yes man for the board. He was not the right man to take the job in the first place but he got it due to his closeness with Lawwell.

I don't see it having much of an impact, the board don't really ever seem to bow to the GB. Lennon will go when the situation is irretrievable and that's the issue and that's why there is so much anger among the fans.

We all know that NL will never ever get a job of this magnitude again.

[illdecide]

Totally classless act. Lennon has given a lot to Celtic. By all means call from him to resign, but he does not deserve this.

Why?

It's football, if the fans were about in normal times you know the type of abuse any manager would get in this situation. That's football particularly at a club like Celtic with a passionate fanbase and pressure to win trophies.

Lennon should be gone, he's still there because he's a yes man for the board. He was not the right man to take the job in the first place but he got it due to his closeness with Lawwell.

I don't see it having much of an impact, the board don't really ever seem to bow to the GB. Lennon will go when the situation is irretrievable and that's the issue and that's why there is so much anger among the fans.

We all know that NL will never ever get a job of this magnitude again.

We all know what type of person you are yet we just about tolerate you even though you show your class every day on this board yet we don't start threads to get you banned as we've a bit more class than that. Away to Brexit/Covid/Micky Harte etc threads and spread your vile crap there. Away ya go ya fool

[illdecide]

Totally classless act. Lennon has given a lot to Celtic. By all means call from him to resign, but he does not deserve this.

Spot on Apples...his time may well be up but there's a way in doing this and that is not it.

[SHEEDY]

Totally classless act. Lennon has given a lot to Celtic. By all means call from him to resign, but he does not deserve this.

Spot on Apples...his time may well be up but there's a way in doing this and that is not it.

totally agree. Lot of time for the green brigade and the stuff they do but I don't agree with this. Classless act.

[JimStynes]

Gutted for Neil Lennon. Really wished he was going to do the 10 in a row. He's gone now by the looks of it. Just not good enough for the job.

[JimStynes]

The huns are having a field day at the minute with the slagging. Hard to listen to.

[marty34]

People are giving out about the GB for doing this - the point is that this year is the year in a lifetime i.e. the 10 in a row. Probably never to get a chance again.

Time is of the essence - the GB are not going to hang about until March and then say, right Lennon, you should go.  Too late at that stage to save 10iar.

Any other season, this might rumble on but time is of the essence this year.

[Angelo]

It's quite sickening listening to some of the pro-Lennon rubbish here.

They are more worried about Neil Lennon's feelings than the fate of the club. It's like a mothers whatsapp chat group this, ffs!

If this was Tony Mowbray, would the likes of illdecide and co be clamouring for sympathy for the manager? They would in their f**k, they'd be wanting him chased ASAP.

The pressure is really coming on now because Lennon should have been ran long, long ago. The only reason he is in the job is sentimentality and sympathy. This is as big as it gets for him in management, he doesn't have the CV to get another job like this ever again.

Some of you would want to cop yourself on.

[Angelo]

Totally classless act. Lennon has given a lot to Celtic. By all means call from him to resign, but he does not deserve this.

This kind of hypocrisy is embarrassing.

I agree.But will Moyes take the job? I doubt it.There are no easy fixes or solutions.Deila did ok in his first year with the likes of Guidetti,Denayer etc but that quality has not been replaced.

No passion, no tactics, no balls and as for the Ronnie Roar my christ I'm embarrassed for him. He has failed with flying colours.

Would you describe the above post as classless or is only lads for Lurgan you get sensitive about?

[Angelo]

How can any of those players have respect for that Celtic management team? John Collins was a so so player and a worse manager, Delilah came from a second class league. There has been absolutely no heart or passion in that Celtic team since they took over. A poor rangers team made them look like they were the championship side. Scott Brown is a shadow of the player he used to be and as for Bitton....

Embarrassing double standards here.

[Angelo]

I have stated before that Bitton is a joke of a player, Scott Brown is a player usually associated with the hustle and bustle and to snuff out the danger man on the other team but not sure if he'd have the  legs for that any more but no skill there whatsoever. Johansen has been really poor this year and Gary Mackay-Steven is a mid table Scottish Premier League player and nothing else who can perform a good game in 10, Roberts done okay but missed a chance that will embarrass him until the day he dies...Ohh hold on a minute i've just named the midfield, now let me think we have K Commons and T Rogic on the bench who are probably the most talented players available and he uses one of them for about 20 mins...WTF. That's terrible bad management...Sorry young Ronnie but you had your shot and failed miserably, it's time to part ways and good luck to you in the future.

The Board now need to man up and get a man in with experience and a proven track record (not a yes man), unfortunately this man will be looking assurances on money to buy players etc and I don't believe he'll get it so another "Yes" man will more than likely be appointed in the Summer.

No to yes men.

Yes to yes men from Armagh.