Neil Lennon has reminded his squad that being the best in Scotland isn’t the limit of his ambitions.
The hoops boss celebrates Christmas with a 10 point lead over three teams and would like to start 2014 with an even bigger advantage in the first ever SPFL Premiership.
Celtic’s route into the Champions League qualifiers seems assured but if any players start to get above themselves then a reminder of their European performances will quickly restore reality.
Two points from six matches against Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax portray Celtic’s place in the European scene with the hoops boss striving already to make his side competitive again on the big stage.
“I’ll remind the players that they are still a long way away from where we want to be,” Lennon explained. “The Champions League showed that.
“While we had a brilliant year the previous season we weren’t quite so great this time. We have set the bar very high and that’s what we have to push the players to strive towards.
“We want to be a consistent Champions League team and competing well in the Champions League, to do that they have to play consistently well week in and week out.”
While most of his players are happy to discuss the side’s unbeaten league record Lennon is wary of looking too far ahead.
Inverness Caley Thistle and St Johnstone both beat Celtic last season with the next four days certain to test Lennon’s squad out.
“It is something that people talk about very prematurely,” Lennon said. “I wouldn’t say (it was) impossible but it is a very difficult thing to do so I wouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves on that.
“We are 16 games into a 38-game season so we are not even halfway there, so it is still a lot to ask for.
“What I am pleased about is that we are unbeaten (in the league) since the start of the season which, considering the amount of games we have had, is a very good effort so far.
“What I want to do in the festive period is to try to increase the gap at the top and give ourselves a bit of leeway going into the break we are taking in January and be ready to go again.”
No fresh injuries were reported from the 2-0 win over Hearts with Adam Matthews available again for selection.
You mean three points from six games?
Sevco has the privilege of the record of two from six 😉
Keep the Green flag fling Stand up for our rights scraw PC A happy Christmas and a good new year Hail Hail JMJ
I wouldn’t class our displays in Europe this season as “not so great” – Pitiful, abysmal, disgraceful are much closer to the truth. We should not be considering remaining unbeaten in league competition as any great feat, considering our overwhelming advantages over every other club. We should instead be rectifying the many mistakes made in Europe, replacing those who sold the club well short with their pathetic performances and looking to make REAL progress for the future.
To continue to play those failures and chase an unbeaten record to counter Sevco’s equally inglorious unbeaten run with similar huge advantages is simply hollow success. I’d much rather win the league (Even a complete novice could not fail given our superior resources) lose a few games, but gain much more in terms of blooding younger players, playing more open expansive football. We have put up with far too many dull, turgid performances, players simply going through the motions, lacking motivation.
Give the fans some excitement, sharpen up the entire side with the exuberance of youth, pace, desire, hunger – dispense with the slow, tried, trusted and failed methods and rescue this season before it’s too late. Learn from the lessons of O’Neill, Strachan’s latter seasons or face losing yet more fans. Never forget it is the FANS who set our club apart and recent events have seen those same fans treated with disdain.
Merry xmas to everybody.
Sitting here reflecting on the highs and lows of the season so far, I find myself re-affirming the number one priority for us, and that is to win our league. Everything flows from us being champions.
No doubt we’ve had a poor season in europe, its not our first and it certainly wont be our last. The simple fact is we were just not good enough to compete this year. Was it lack of motivation or lack of quality players for this level? I think honestly it was a bit of both.
Going forward I hope Neil has learned from this campaign and does not repeat some of the glaring mistakesvhe made. On the player front I am trying to stay positive and believe we are a couple of buys away from a really talented side.
So lots to look forward to, new players in Jan, possible unbeaten run in league, possible double. Got the champagne and carlsberg chilling already.
hail hail
FANS WERE AT THEIR BEST TODAY.PAPERS WILL BE SOOOOOOO ANGRY THEY HAVE NO
‘BREAKING STORIES’ ABOUT THE HOOPS FANS.THE GOAL BY VVD WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF
THE DAY.NEW FACES REQUIRED URGENTLY AND A FEW NEED TO BE PUNTED.GOOD NIGHT
OR GOOD MORNING TO ALL FOLLOWERS OF THE CELTIC.