Ally McCoist has suggested that Celtic manager Neil Lennon should show that he is the right man to manage the club next season by focusing on matters on the pitch.
Lennon took over at Celtic for his second spell in charge of the club in February after Brendan Rodgers left to take charge of Premier League side Leicester City. The 47-year-old has managed to guide the club to the SPFL title and is on course to help the Glasgow club achieve another domestic treble this campaign.
However, Lennon has recently suggested that some Celtic supporters are not seeing the bigger picture in not wanting him to remain in charge next season, after coming under criticism from the Glasgow club’s fans after their 2-0 defeat at Rangers last weekend, according to the Daily Record.
McCoist has now suggested that Celtic’s recent drop in form is not solely down to Lennon, and that the 47-year-old should focus on matters on the field rather than getting involved with the fans.
“The drop in form has been in place long before Neil returned but I expect them to go on and win the treble,” McCoist told BT Sport 1 on Saturday [11:55am].
“You’ve got to be very careful when you take on the fans, very seldom you take on the fans and win a battle. If I was Neil then I would just let my results do the talking and they’ve been fine.”
OPINION
McCoist is correct to advise Lennon to focus on matters on the pitch rather than engaging in a battle with Celtic’s supporters. Lennon has in the main done a good job since returning to the club in February, and has managed to stabilise Celtic after they lost the services of Rodgers, under who the club won historic back-to-back trebles. However, despite winning the SPFL title Lennon’s side suffered a potentially alarming 2-0 defeat at Rangers last weekend which has left some supporters questioning whether the 47-year-old is the right manager to lead the club next season. That being said Lennon has already demonstrated his ability to win titles with Celtic, after winning three league titles in a row between 2011 and 2014 in his first spell in charge of the club. Therefore, he will feel that he is the right man for the job next season, which as McCoist suggests if that is what believes then he needs to focus on proving that with Celtic’s results and let those do the talking for him. It is going to be interesting to see who Celtic appoint as their permanent manager in the summer, with whoever it is having the challenge of carrying on the club’s recent success and fend of a challenge from Rangers.