Even as he was picking up the Manager of the Month award there was no hiding place for Neil Lennon as he was quizzed about the latest superstar arrival at Ibrox.
Two days earlier, without two key central defenders and fielding a defence that had barely trained together never mind played in a match, the Irishman had handed out a tactical masterclass across the city.
All the hype of the close season when wingers Jordan Jones, Jake Hastie, Brandon Barker and Shenyi Ojo had been added to Steven Gerrard’s squad was wiped out over 90 minutes as Celtic sent out a subtle reminder that it is looking like business as usual.
The dominance of Christopher Jullien was overlooked, no one was bothered about the development of Boli Bolingoli, the pressing matter was Lennon’s views on Ryan Kent- the man that scored six goals last season and assisted in a little more.
Homegrown talents James Forrest and Mikey Johnston had played to instruction at Ibrox, Tav and Flanno had little impact and Celtic maintained their 100% SPFL record in front of 48,000 baying home fans.
So what about Kent then as the Daily Record reported:
I’ve no interest in it whatsoever. We have no interest in what Rangers are doing. Well I certainly don’t and especially off the back of a great performance and a great win. All it is is three points and a big psychological lift for everyone associated with the clubs. Four games in it’s been a very good start but that’s all it is. I can’t control what other teams do. Who they bring in or what they spend but we control what we do and I’m pretty happy with the end results.
And of Lennon went to review Sunday’s match and prepare for Hamilton and Rennes.
