BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton says the writing is very much on the wall for Celtic manager Neil Lennon after last night’s embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Sparta Prague.
Despite being a friend and former teammate of the Hoops boss, Sutton says there is no way he can justify the team’s recent run of form, which he says is as bad as Tony Mowbray’s time in charge:
“They look disjointed, disorganised and, he’s my mate, but he’s in big trouble. I can’t defend that – it was a hopeless, hopeless performance. I know that the board have backed him, but they have a decision to make. The last time a (Celtic) manager was on this bad a run was Tony Mowbray. Ronny Deila failed in Europe too. This isn’t the Champions League though, this is the Europa League and for Celtic to be out after four games isn’t good enough. This time last year Celtic beat Lazio and they qualified after four games. They’ve regressed and he’s in trouble.”
It is a damning indictment of Lennon’s management and it does appear there is really no way back for the Irishman, despite owner Dermot Desmond having once again given the manager his support.
The nature of recent performances, combined with fan unrest that was amplified by the Green Brigade’s statement, means Lennon really has very little room to manoeuvre.
With one of his closest allies in Sutton also unable to defend him, there are question marks over how long Lennon can survive in the job. A poor result against Ross County this weekend may be the final straw.
