Neil Lennon is being suffocated by Celtic board, says Charlie Nicholas
Charlie Nicholas dissects the upshot of Celtic's Champions League exit on the Transfer Talk podcast
Friday 16 August 2019 19:01, UK
How do Celtic react from a chastening Champions League exit in midweek? Does the blame lie with Neil Lennon? Where do they need to respond in the transfer window? Charlie Nicholas answers the important questions…
Celtic were eliminated from Europe's top-tier club competition after a 5-4 aggregate defeat against Romanian champions Cluj at Celtic Park on Tuesday.
It is the fourth time in the last six years that the Hoops have failed to qualify for the group stage, and now face a Europa League play-off against Swedish side AIK.
Former Celtic player Nicholas was a guest on the latest Transfer Talk podcast and discussed the ramifications of the club's premature exit and how best for the club to react, with Rangers pushing hard to prevent the club dominating once again on the domestic scene.
Where does the blame lie?
It has to go to the people associated with raising the funds. Every season the same thing happens with Celtic. You get into the easy two play-off qualifiers and beat the two small-time teams comfortably and then you have high hopes. Then they don't really spend any cash.
This season they received £25m for [Kieran] Tierney which was a cracking deal for them and a good deal for Arsenal may I say. But they don't plan to use those funds until they know if they are through or they are out. Of course when they go out, everyone says 'the manager played [Callum] McGregor in the wrong position'. Which he did.
[They ask] why he did he not do this and why did he do that? [Lennon] does that because there is an uncertainty about the whole club. The funds people do not sit until they feel it is the right time for the team. These people are accountants.
But in football and management what you are doing in a way is suffocating Neil Lennon. They suffocated Brendan Rodgers for long enough. And what happened there? He walked out on them. The fans hated it. They blamed Brendan and they don't blame the hierarchy.
Neil Lennon will be no glove-pocket manager.
The reality is that Celtic do this every season and for two seasons out of the last six they have qualified and who was that under? Rodgers. Because he walked in the door and they believed in him. They paid him a big wage. They paid his staff a big wage and they gave him money to spend on players he wanted. Not on players that the board wanted. There is the difference.
Neil Lennon will be no glove-pocket manager. But he won't control or fight the situation the way Rodgers could because of the power Brendan had. That is the reality of where Celtic are.
The questions have got to be put to the board members. What is your ambition? Is it nine in a row? Is it another domestic treble? Because there doesn't seem to be anything that would excite the fans more than having a belief that they can go and qualify for the Champions League and play with the big guys.
What will now happen before the transfer window closes on September 2?
There was a big rebuild to be had at Celtic. It needed a goalkeeper. Already the suggestions this week are that Fraser Forster might be brought back on loan. I am not sure Southampton will loan him because they want him out of the door. But he did really well with Lennon at Celtic before and they need a goalkeeper. So that could be a deal that is done.
But otherwise I think Celtic probably need one centre back or at least two. They probably need another forward in my opinion. There are still three or four areas they require because people will leave.
The problem I have got though is we need [Olivier] Ntcham. Ntcham is one of their best players. He got carried away a little bit with his statements in the summer but he is a very talented player. I think he is being looked at by Marseille and others. Whether they have the money is another issue.
I think it looks like he wants out of the door. It doesn't look as if he is that interested. The problem is that Ntcham is big chums with [Odsonne] Edouard and he is their top goal scorer in big games. Now if Ntcham was to go, I don't know how it would spark onto Edouard.
He could be left saying I am kind of left here isolated and I don't feel comfortable with that. He is young, he can get dragged into a situation that makes it awkward for a dressing room and awkward for a coach. There is real danger sniffing around in the air at Celtic.
Unfortunately, the one everyone will be pointing their finger at, or predominately most people are, is Neil Lennon because he got his game plan wrong. But he has not been helped.
Was Neil Lennon's team selection a message to the board?
He simply got it wrong. There is no way I can protect Neil and say he got it right.
Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo didn't deserve to be in the team. But Ntcham didn't deserve to be in team as well. At Celtic you are told to adapt and be able to adapt. I can't protect Neil for the team he picked and the lack of motivation that his players showed. It was glaring mistakes.
I don't think it was a signal he sent out. The signal was probably picked up by the fans more so than anybody else. The signals are how do you fix it? Domestically, they clean up everything. [But] Rangers are a real threat this season. Absolutely. They are bang on it right now with drive, determination and a stronger squad.
Celtic have to sort themselves out without worrying about Rangers right now. That is going to take a bit of time.
As Celtic fans we have to sit and watch the next two weeks or so what this funding machine is going to do. They have something like £40-50 million. They keep telling us they want to build hotels, they want to build this and that. But what you need to do now is build a team again so that they are going after nine in a row. So that you will pacify the fans because they are not interested in the Europa League. They are only interested in the Champions League.
If the window closed tomorrow have they got enough to win the league title?
No. Rangers have had a much better recruitment window than Celtic and must answer this is what we are after. Lennon must have a say and if they have to break the bank to get him then so be it. Celtic fans deserve a reaction.
They are asking questions. They are surrounded by success and are lucky fans but they will not want stopping for more, so Celtic must react.
