Neil Lennon has responded to his critics with a name check for Tam McManus over the omission of Patryk Klimala from the starting XI against Ferencvaros.
The former Hibs and Ayr United striker is trying hard to create a career in the media with a regular slot on Peter Martin’s PLZ Soccer Show and a seat alongside David Tanner on Hibs TV.
McManus claimed that Klimala would be demanding a transfer after being left on the bench throughout the Champions League qualifier but the Celtic boss has a more balanced and informative opinion on the Polish striker.
The 22-year-old played a full part in all of Celtic’s pre-season matches then scored after coming on as a substitute in the opening SPFL fixture at home to Hamilton Accies.
Discussing that issue Lennon told the Daily Record:
McManus is a pundit and he has his opinion. I don’t think Patryk will be asking for a transfer any time soon. He is young and hasn’t done a full 90 minutes yet.
We see him as a squad player to develop and we felt Wednesday night was not the right time to throw him in the deep end with a start. Ryan scored, was unlucky not to get another couple and was at the heart of a lot of good things.
People can look at the team selection but the bottom line is we had more than enough chances to win two games and we let ourselves down with an individual error. We dominated the game, dominated possession and actually played a lot better than I expected.
At 1.45 today all eyes will be on the Celtic team announcement to play Motherwell with Klimala and Albian Ajeti in contention to start in attack.
