Neil Lennon has excused Gary Hooper from his scathing comments after Celtic’s defeat at Ross County.
Hooper and Victor Wanyama have been at the centre of most transfer speculation since the turn of the year with Lennon wondering if some players minds were elsewhere.
After a great scoring run through January the goals have dried up a little for Hooper however the restoration of his partnership with Anthony Stokes has added a new dimension to a number of recent matches.
“Gary Hooper was the one bright spark going forward,” Lennon said after the defeat in Dingwall. “I was pleased with his contribution and Miku played okay in fits and starts but it was very difficult on that pitch. You’re not going to get a good game of football.
“You never can tell but we should have been 4-2 up at half-time. We missed two great chances then they got a huge slice of luck with the one the keeper saves and it goes up and hits the bar off the defender.
“We looked leggy at the back, I don’t know if it was down to a bit of fatigue. We have lost the last two away games to poor performances. It wasn’t good enough.”
Lennon added: “We’ve had a long week. We didn’t have a day to prepare because we had a four-hour drive after coming back on Thursday so there are mitigating circumstances for a bit of lethargy.
“We had nine out and no full-backs, so I had to go with a back three. What you can’t lack is character and we did in several departments so I’m angry about that.
CLICK HERE for Lennon slams players attitude
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Neily
STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!!!!!!!!!!!
Playing badly happens, not giving a toss is a completely different thing.
Neil’s trying to defend the indefensible. I’m sorry but Hooper is starting to believe the hype surrounding him. His play outside the box is diabolical, he can’t trap a ball and is too easily shrugged off by defenders. He doesn’t have blistering pace, his heading ability is almost zero and 1 goal in 8 games is just not good enough for a Celtic striker.
In truth I think Neil is defending him solely for his selling value.
Hail hail
Get a grip Neil. You are making a rod for your own back with ill judged post match comments. Not for the first time.
Hooper, Wanyama & Forster all want to go. They should in my opinion.
Forster looks like an oaf compared to the keeper he was pre injury.
Hooper is a decent striker, his poor all round play could be excused if he had a better goals return.
Wanyama is a class act & will go all the way. He will be missed but good thing is his contract doesn’t expire till 2015 so we should make a great return on him.
I’m sure we’ll get players as good or better that Hooper & Forster. Upwards & onwards.
In the meantime hope Lennon learns to screw the nut post match.
I don’t think having no serious challengers for the title helps either,in no way am i saying its the whole reason behind the slump at the same time it can’t be a good thing for there motivation given that there is not 1 club in our league even remotely capable of challenging,the players are no daft they no this,personly i can’t remember the last time i looked at the spl league table theres no point its pretty much a formality, its no an excuse for the team and i know they are pros getting paid a great wage and they should be up for it and failing that Lenny and co should have them fired up,and they have got a duty to the fans that seems to be lost on some of them
Just seems like since we opened up that gap at the top we’ve become more and more laclustre,i expect Lenny to ring the changes for next game availibility permitting and i hope to see a positive response from the team,i know Lenny’s said they owe him but i think they owe the fans aswell
I am willing to give Lenny time to sort this attitude problem out on the basis the team has improved out of sight overall in terms of the team he took over,only time will tell
In saying all that i still think the clubs in really good health considering the state of scottish fitba and i hope he gets a couple of ” auld heids ” in the summer to augment the young talent thats there already,i still think there is a lot to be positive about.
Make mine a double,CHEERS
No full backs !!
What we don’t have a development team or an Under 20s side then. Young players have been pitched into the deep end many times without letting us down. This was against Ross County not exactly high flying nor vital. Poor excuses for rank bad team selection / tactics.
I have absolutely no problem with us losing a game and every one has put a hard shift in.
Excluding the CL the last five defeats have happened because half the team are not trying. A pretty damning claim you might say but the evidence is clear.
Like any sportsman you cannot start playing half motivated and then expect to throw a switch during a game and expect to succeed.
Lennon’s problem is that he has not mastered yet puting a consistently motivated team out on the park.
A possible double and last 16 in CL in anyone’s language that is success, but its how you achieve it that gives it the icing.
Hail hail
Lenny,
HOOPER WAS RANK AT ROSS COUNTY
He’s been rank for the last 2 months …… I’d have bit the hand off the Norwich boss and took the 8 mill on offer , you’d be lucky to get half that now.
WE ARE CELTIC SUPPORTERS.NO WORRIES.2 IN A ROW