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Neil Lennon's worry over Emilio Izaguirre

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Emilio Izaguirre Celtic newsNeil Lennon has admitted to being concerned about Emilio Izaguirre.

The Honduran full-back was substituted at half-time yesterday in the 3-1 win over Falkirk and has failed to recapture the form that made him Scotland’s Player of the Year last season.

Izaguirre played his first 90 minutes since recovering from an ankle break in the Scottish Cup tie at Peterhead but has been substituted against Dundee United and Falkirk and didn’t feature in the 2-0 win over St Mirren.

Lennon explained: “He just doesn’t look up to the pace of the game and he was a little bit pedestrian with the ball and certainly he’s not got that snap to his game that he’s had before.

“It might take a bit of time and time’s one thing that we don’t have when we’ve got big games coming up.”

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  • kauto says:

    Bit harsh tbh. He was out for a long time with a bad injury and to expect him to be back to his best straight away is a bit unfair.

  • justshatered says:

    I think Izzie should be treated delicately. Get him training and playing ‘behind closed doors games’ until he gets back up to speed.

    He was badly out of position for the goal we lost yesterday. If you look at the TV pictures; when Wanyama’s pass, which was poor, is cut out he is already over the half way line and as the play develops he never attempts to get goal side of his man until it was too late.

    With all due respect to Falkirk, who played well yesterday, I think SPL teams would have been more clinical.

    In my view he certainly cannot even be taken to Inverness for the cup game. This is where he was badly exposed in the game that cost us the title last year.

    We must go with a solid Joe Ledley at left back up at Inverness.

    I don’t know about every one else but I’m beginning to get concerned about the way we are losing a lot of midfield balls and Forrest seems off form. I don’t think he took his man on more tha once in the second half. There also doesn’t seem to be a good understanding between him and Cha.

    I think we need to tighten things up by droping Cha and Izzie and bringing back Mathews and moving Ledley back to left back. We need to lock the back door and build from there.

  • bhoylondon67 says:

    Izzy just needs to get his fitness back and game time and he will be back to terrorising defenders. He’s a fantastic talent. HH

  • Johnp says:

    Totally agree with the comments above. This is a bit harsh. To single Izzy out is unfair.

    To be honest yesterday’s performance will have given Rangers hope! Celtic were absolutely dreadful from beginning to end. If it had been against an SPL team in the league we would have dropped at least two points. This is the main worry.

    Falkirk won balls in the middle of the park (just shows you the work even an off form Kayal does) and sent players away down our left on numerous occasions in the second half. If they had players of even mediocre ability they would have scored. We were lucky not to be 2-1 down just after half time.

    I know this sounds gloom and doom but we have plenty of work to do to win this league and performances like yesterdays will ensure we drop points. Our run has been great but it is deceptive. In a lot of the games we have not been convincing.

    Wanyama had his poorest game. I honestly believe Cha should be dropped and unless Matthews is injured should not return. His positional sense, passing and general understanding of the game are poor. We were slow and laboured in getting forward. There was no spark or energy in the team and this must be nipped in the bud as soon as possible.

    If we play in the same way against ICT we will be knocked out. No one played well. Maybe Neil should have put Commons on earlier. He should definitely shake things up a little on Saturday to keep players on their toes. Maybe they are already thinking they are better than they are. A quick reminder from the manager is necessary.

  • paranoidandroid says:

    I dont think you can expect someone to come back from a bad leg break and be a world beater after half a game. Izzy has got a lot of physical and psychological issues to put behind him. It’s going to take him weeks, maybe even months to recapture last years form. Give the guy time.

    I also agree with justshattered: we do give the ball away too much in the midfield, especially yesterday. I sometimes think that Wanayama, good player that he is, is a bit casual with his passing when he plays in the midfield. I think he needs to be a bit crisper and more direct for the SPL. It’s not his fault though. It can take a while to get used to Scotlands ‘unique’ style of football.

  • Willie Aitkenhead says:

    I felt we just needed to switch to 3 at the back with Wanayama dropping back and push our full backs further forward to cancel out Falkirk’s extra man. We’d have out them under much more pressure and created more chances for Hooper / Stokes.

    We certainly can’t afford either Inverness or Hearts the luxury of an extra man in midfield as we did v Falkirk & St. Mirren. It’s ok for the likes of Barcelona as they just don’t give the ball away as easily as too many of our players do.

  • Gerry D says:

    I admire lennons bravery and honesty in being upfront regarding izzy.

    I am sure izzy will come back to his old self but give Lennon some credit for being astute enough to do what’s needed for the best interests of player and club

  • YoungBhoy97 says:

    he’s been out for 4 months, it’s only normal not to be in Top Form after that, i believe his problem is psychological, after realizing he’s not made of Glass he’ll be just like before. Good luck Izzy !!

  • Mick says:

    Saw him walking about the city centre with that Claros guy rangers had on trial. He had one of those brown McDonalds bags — not the sort of nutritious food he should be consuming so close to a semi-final when he’s trying to get his match fitness back.

    Hope this is just simply a case of needing more match practice than him being on the slippery slope. Lennon’s right either way, his performance yesterday was unsatisfactory.

  • FFS give the wee man a chance he’s only back 5 mins

  • vincent says:

    Celtic should have been 3 up at half time goal ruled wrongly offside. They hit the bar and post and forrest had a one on one near the end of first half.

    The game was a walk in the park celtic done enough to win. izzy will take time to get up to speed but that was half a game under his belt and he never got injured so look at the positives.

  • jbhoy says:

    celtic did more than enough to beat falkirk, they needed an easy game and to be honest it was, its hard to give it 100% each week, but this is where lennon needs to use the squad, the likes of izzy,, paddy, and commons coming back plus the new signings should see us pick up the points and claim back the title. I hope we stick with Wilson and utilise him and mathews at RB and mulgrew and izzy at LB.

  • Brian says:

    Like others above I think its a bit harsh to have a pop at Izzy after 3 games back. Although lets not forget his form slumped big time after he got the PotY award last year, specifically at Inverness.

    Anyway, my first reaction was to blame Izzy for the goal, where the hell was he I was thinking. But when I seen the replay and Wanyama’s pass he is the only person who should be getting grief. His passing in the middle of the park is woeful and has been since he staked a claim in the team. His pass would have caught Stokes out of position never mind Izzy. WGS was right when he said the really good players are the ones who can pass consistently over 10 yards not the ones who can fire 40 yard passes every now and then.

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