Neil Lennon mention a mini-crisis when he discussed Celtic’s 4-1 win at Motherwell.
One win in six matches during a run of three consecutive home defeats piled pressure on the Irishman as he took his side into the final fixture before the November international break.
Almost every aspect of the 4-1 defeat from Sparta Prague had been criticised from the selection and tactics through to the physical condition of Leigh Griffiths and Moi Elyounoussi using his mobile phone.
There was no margin for error at Motherwell but apart from a spell of concern during the second half Celtic were always in control as they ran out 4-1 winners.
The phrase Crisis is toxic for many Celtic fans mindful of the glee that tabloid newspapers have used it in the past alongside a cracked crest.
Under Martin O’Neill the Daily Record dusted down the Crisis template after Celtic lost back-to-back pre-season friendlies in the USA but it has been avoided over the last decade.
Discussing his players reaction to the Sparta fall-out, the Daily Record reports Lennon saying:
They found it today, we managed our mini crisis – if you want to call it that – very well but we don’t want to keep going back to that. I don’t want to keep criticising the players because they’ve been magnificent for me since I came in.
And they looked far more like the team and individuals I know they are today. Their motivation was high, they know they can play a lot better than they showed and we’ve seen that today.
Lennon will now have to take a back seat to see how his squad emerges from an international break that will see his players scattered across Europe for the next 10 days.