Neil Lennon believes that Biram Kayal was world class in Celtic’s 4-1 win over Dundee United.
The win brought Celtic to a point behind Rangers and leaves Celtic with a goal difference of six better than Walter Smith’s side.
Kayal scored the crucial second goal in the 54th minute to calm any nerves around an almost full Celtic Park with his all-round performance delighting his manager.
“I thought he was world class,” Lennon admitted.
“I thought he and Scott Brown were magnificent from start to finish and had to cope with three in there.
“We wanted to play with a bit of width with James Forrest and Kris Commons and those two (Brown and Kayal) had to really work hard. The strength and power they bring to the team is fantastic.
“It is as good a midfield as we have had in a long time allied to Joe Ledley who is out, Ki who we can bring in off the bench, we can drop Maloney in there, Juarez, so we are pretty strong in that area.”
Rangers 5-0 win at Motherwell had put Celtic under pressure but with two weeks left in the SPL campaign Lennon was delighted with the way his side responded
The Celtic boss added: “We were brilliant from start to finish although we are disappointed with the goal that we conceded.
“It was a disappointing result from our point of view yesterday (at Fir Park) but we responded very well.
“We have a game in hand plus a goal difference of six goals but that won’t matter if we win every game.”
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I live in Israel and had seen a bit of Kayal before we signed him. I mentioned to a few people on one of the Tic boards that I thought he’d be a great buy but had no idea just how good he’d be, especially considering this is only hist first season and the differences between Scotland and Israel, both in lifestyle and footballing terms are pretty significant.
More power to the bhoy, he’s going to go a very long way in the game….just hope we can keep a hold of him for another few years.
Thanks for your contribution Tony.
It would be great if you could add some extra detail to the Kayal story.
Normally there seems to be an issue or problem with foreign players that end up in the SPL but happily that’s not the case with Biram/Beram or Emilio Izaguirre.
It would be interesting to find out where he was in his career a year ago, how playing for Celtic has developed that and the general reaction in Israel to the way he has settled at Celtic and taken on a leading role at the club.
I don’t expect to attend his Celtic testimonial but if the title is won I’d like to think that the challenge of the Champions League and the Neil Lennon factor will be more appealing than quick riches in the Premiership.
A new improved contract and the chance to develop further next season at Celtic would give put him in a great position.
It would be great if he just can’t get enough of Celtic, four more performances like yesterday will make a huge contribution towards winning the title.