Neil Lennon has defended his players against the negative tag they’ve been hit with since Bernd Schuster criticised their display in the Nou Camp.
The failed manager turned radio pundit has been joined by other critics jealous of Celtic’s success in the Champions League.
With seven points from four matches and the scalp of the World Champions Lennon hardly needs to defend or justify himself but decided to put the record straight ahead of tonight’s clash with Benfica.
“People call us negative but with 15 minutes to go against Barcelona a defender came off the pitch and we put a centre forward on,” the hoops boss explained. “For me, I’ll take that all day. It worked for us that night.
“Some days it does, some days it doesn’t but we were always trying to get something out the game, whether it was a win or a draw.
“It’ll be the same for this game. I don’t think this team is built to just sit in and suck it up. Yes, we did it well in Barcelona but that’s because Barcelona make you do that.
“Not many teams can get a grip of you like that and force you onto the back foot the way they do but if we’re negative, why would I bring a centre forward on for a defender with 15 minutes to go?
“In both games against Barcelona, I started with two strikers so we haven’t played negatively at all.
“And we scored three goals in two games against Barca and three in Moscow. So we’ve done okay. You know what it’s like, if you tell a big enough untruth, people will believe it.”
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Do our talking where it really matters….on the pitch. If we qualify then no-one can point / complain. I’m sure there would be plenty of critics who would be heard if we had lost by 4-5 goals in the Camp Nou or at Celtic Park. We deservedly beat Barcelona in Glasgow and if we can take something from Lisbon we will deserve to go through. A very tough game ahead, but if we approach it properly we can get the result.
The world seems to have gone statistic crazy. Here is another. Including the 4 qualifying games, Celtic have totalled 14 goals in the 8 games to date. 8 of these goals have been away from home. Hardly a negative style! Admittedly, our keepy-uppy statistics are woeful, as are the figures showing our non threatening, meaningless 1 yard passes. I don’t think, Lenny will be trying to be improving on these figures though on the training ground. He will be too busy improving on our goals from chances ratio at the other end of the pitch. A ratio which must surely be the best in European football. HH
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the stats. There is a reason every manager pays good money for the stats. I have been recording our stats this year and now I see why its done.
There is simple stuff. Team with most possession usually wins. Team with most shots, usually score the most goals. Shocking, I know.
Then there is the more in depths stuff.
In the first leg against Barca they had 15 corners they only put 8 of them into the box and 7 were played short, suggesting they have no confidence of their aerial ability.
Last game against Benfica, Mulgrew only had a 61% pass completion, he turned the ball over far too much. We can’t win these games by giving the ball to the opposition cheaply.
Commons takes corners and free kicks from wide areas, yet Mulgrew has more assists from set pieces which suggests he puts in a better ball.
There is so much you can learn from the statistics that you might not see during the game. There is a lot of info I can’t get at as well that goes unseen from the tv cameras. How much ground each player covers and when they start tiring etc.
Ahh Stats…..they can mean anything you want them too…Barcelona had more players booked in BOTH games than Celtic – Hence they must have been displaying a more physical style or putting the boot in LOL