After spending almost every column in the Daily Mail this season predicting doom for Celtic Kris Commons believes that the last two results could prove to be a turning point!
A draw at Lille and win over Aberdeen have been enough to get the former Celtic midfielder to change his tune plus being called out by Neil Lennon and Leigh Griffiths.
After falling six points behind in the SPFL Premiership (even with a game less played) and losing at home 3-1 to AC Milan it was clear that there were problems for Lennon to deal with.
Before facing Lille in the Europa League the Celtic boss tackled his media critics head on as he responded to the non-stop attacks and criticism of the players and himself.
It’s nothing unusual to be panned by the usual suspects but when a former team-mate and star player described Shane Duffy as a bomb-scare it was clear that boundaries had been crossed.
Since leaving Celtic in 2017 Commons popularity has been in decline, on the back of his recent comments most Celtic fans have dropped him into the same category as Charlie Nicholas as they attack the hoops relentlessly to retain a place on the pundit circuit.
Commons has clearly been stung by the reaction to his comments, picking up on his Daily Mail column, the Daily Record reports:
This could be a major turning point for Neil Lennon because there is no doubt that fans were beginning to get on his case. Some of the abuse he was taking on social media was beyond a joke. There was so much noise and drama off the field. His agent even ended up in a spat with fans on social media.
I took a lot of criticism last week for comments I made about Lennon, which ended up being twisted and taken completely out of context by some. But I stand by what I said. At no point whatsoever did I suggest Celtic should sack him. I’ve got nothing but respect for him.
Ultimately, he’s the man who started this run of league titles and he’s still the best man for the job to go on and secure Ten In A Row. The point I made was that, especially on the back of the defeat to Rangers, the level of criticism among some fans had reached boiling point.
If things had gone wrong against Lille and Aberdeen, he was going to find himself under serious pressure. Listen, Lennon would have known that himself. I’ve been in that dressing room and I can tell you the pressure is on in every single game at Celtic.
That applies tenfold in this season above all others when the club are chasing the Holy Grail of Ten In A Row. So full credit, then, for the way he has slowly, but surely, begun to turn it around over the past week.
It will take an incredible amount of back-tracking from Commons to regain any respect from Celtic supporters even though his 27 goals in 32 league appearances in 2013/14 surpasses anything that Moussa Dembele, Odsonne Edouard and Scott Sinclair have achieved in the modern era.