One word from Neil Lennon struck a chord with Kris Commons on Saturday. Lazy.
As he chewed over the 2-2 draw the Celtic boss mentioned laziness and a lack of hunger within the squad. At very selected times those comments can be used to gee players up but right now isn’t the time at Celtic.
Commons worked under Lennon at Celtic and Hibs and was probably the player closest to the Irishman after being team-mates at Nottingham Forest.
Saturday was a continuation of the season to date with a patchy, frustrating performance that raised more questions than answers.
At the back Celtic are shipping in two goals a game in the SPFL, Moi Elyounoussi is either red hot or substituted while Odsonne Edouard looks well short of last season’s standards. Leigh Griffiths has still to play 90 minutes this season.
Covering his Daily Mail column, the Daily Record reports Commons saying:
For Lennon to call some of the players ‘lazy’ shows the depth of the problems he’s currently facing as manager.
As a player, a comment like that should really hurt you. To be called ‘lazy’ is pretty much the worst thing a manager can possibly say about you but I can fully understand where Lennon is coming from. There are certain players in this Celtic squad who just don’t look interested any more.
Their attitude is leaving a lot to be desired and, not for the first time this season, Lennon has felt the need to make that known publicly.
The likes of Scott Brown, Callum McGregor and James Forrest would run through brick walls for Celtic and fully understand what’s at stake this season but how many others can you really say that about?
There are too many players in this team who, frankly, look like they couldn’t care less about ten in a row. All it takes is for two or three bad apples to spoil things in the dressing room.
If they start downing tools, it can begin to spread and become a major problem. This is one of the biggest seasons in the club’s history. If some players aren’t giving every ounce of effort, then they really shouldn’t be anywhere near the place.
I still firmly believe Lennon is the right man for the job and, in a way, Saturday’s result showed that he retains the support of the vast majority of the players.
With the Daily Record running with a story about Gordon Strachan being a phone call away from returning to Celtic Lennon’s problems aren’t getting any easier.
