Neil Lennon wants his players to rediscover the freshness of their 27 match unbeaten run when they face St Johnstone today.
The hoops have stumbled to defeat in their last two matches, the League Cup Final against Kilmarnock and an Old Firm reverse at Ibrox, but could move to within a point of the title by beating St Johnstone.
Lennon hasn’t had his troubles to seek over the last week but despite the distractions his focus is on getting his players over the finishing line and finishing the season in style with the double of SPL and Scottish Cup very much alive.
The hoops boss told Celtic tv: “Their not playing too badly, they need to get rid of the mental fatigue and bring a freshness to their football, play the way that they can and entertain the supporters.
“People on the outside are looking in for the slightest excuse at the team. We’ve lost 2 games in the last 29. To turn around a 15 point gap to an 18 point lead you’d have to accuse the other team (Rangers) of bottling it never mind Celtic.
“We have a young team who have made huge strides this season and are progressing very well. There’s a little bit of mental fatigue there just now, we recognise that and will do all we can to address that as quickly as possible.
“Our fans and the backroom team are immensely proud of the way we have played this season and the way that they’ve handled the pressure.
“We lost the league by a point, we got 92 points last year and reached both cup finals. This season we’re 18 points clear with 7 games to go, we’ve been to the League Cup Final and we’re in the semi-final of the other cup.
“If we get past Hearts that’s four domestic finals in a row that we’ve reached which is pretty consistent in my book.”
Emilio Izaguirre and Kris Commons could be back in contention to face St Johnstone after impressing Lennon as substitutes at Ibrox.
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The team needs to “speed it up ” a bit….IMO….
I watch football from many different countries and the theme is almost always …speed going forward…
We don’t do that…our build up is slow and deliberate …teams are now closing us down in the middle of the park …which forces us to go back and in too many instances …we end up resorting to the long punt…
I hate to pick on individual players..but James Forrest doesn’t do enough of what he’s good at and he’s the one player we have with genuine pace…but he buck passes too often IMO.
I know Lenny can, quite rightly, quote excellent statistics…but there’s always room for improvement.
Rant over….
MON THE HOOPS.
am with you there mike. When we try to go on the attack it is done with no speed and cohesion,and of course the opposition have regrouped before you know it.I say again and again,we have no craft , no guile,and no moravcic.
Lets get back to winning ways today! Mon the Hoops!
Neil, honestly if Thomas Rogne punts the ball one more time in the first 5 mins to no one I’m seriously gonna go lookin for him lol. Every week we start badly due to not settlin down and playing nice “early” n “easy” football. There is no need to knock the ball long ever. Period!
I’m of the opinion that if Stokes n Hooper dont get a 1 on 1 chance in a game then its the fault of the mid fielders. They should be demanding the ball from defence and simply puttin it on a plate for S&H.
Dont get me wrong though, I’m extremely proud of NL and the young squad for their efforts and pending success. Its a good time For Celtic Football Club 😀 HH 1NL