The warning signs were there, but Neil Lennon’s Celtic reached a new nadir with their 4-1 humbling at home to Sparta Prague.
It does not take much to spark a crisis in Paradise. A season which was supposed to lead to a 10th consecutive title sees the Hoops sat nine points behind Rangers at the top of the Scottish Premiership, albeit with two games in hand.
Since a 2-0 defeat in the Old Firm in mid-October, Lennon’s side have won just one in six in all competitions. For the first time in 30 years, they have also lost three consecutive matches at Celtic Park.
It is that run of form which is pointing towards Eddie Howe. The former Bournemouth boss, who left the Cherries by mutual consent in August, is now 11-10 favourite to take over from Lennon.
The 42-year-old’s task would be to re-energise a group of players who, by all indications, lack commitment. Howe himself needed re-energising, having lost his own dynamism during Bournemouth’s final season in the Premier League.
As his side plummeted back down to the second tier, one of Britain’s most promising young coaches could not stop them leaking goals. Even with Nathan Aké at the heart of the back four, only Norwich and Aston Villa conceded more in the 2019-20 campaign. The season before that, Bournemouth let in 70 goals, a record only worsened by demoted Huddersfield and Fulham.
Celtic aren’t that bad. There are mitigating factors behind their poor start, too.
Where has it all gone wrong?
Lennon, who returned when Brendan Rodgers left for Celtic in February 2019, has badly missed Leigh Griffiths. Despite scoring against Sparta Prague, the striker is still a long way off looking fit.
Then there are the rest of his teammates. Lennon slammed their attitude after Thursday’s Europa League loss and called for a change of “culture”. Tellingly, Mohamed Elyounoussi had been spotted looking at his phone rather than watching the game after being substituted.
This is what Howe will potentially be working with. The board will not necessarily be looking for a notorious authoritarian – just as well, really – but at least a coach who is able to stamp out the ill-discipline that seems to have crept in.
It wasn’t just another defeat. There was a sense of chaos about it, succumbing to a team who have barely been playing due to the Czech league being on hold for the last month. They were given special dispensation to play Celtic in the first place, and yet they humiliated them.
In the wake of that result, one notorious bookmaker organised for actors dressed as zombies to “raid” the stadium’s trophy cabinet – a play on fans’ insults towards Rangers “back from the dead” re-emergence after 2012. The bookmaker compared the performance against Sparta Prague to the “Night of The Living Dead”.
These stunts have a way of being transformed into self-fulfilling prophecies. David Moyes was sacked as Manchester United manager after the same company paid for a “Grim Reaper” to stand behind him in the Goodison Park stands wielding an axe.
And speaking of Moyes, the West Ham boss is among the other early frontrunners, along with Barcelona assistant Henrik Larsson and former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan.
Is Howe the right man?
Howe is the clear favourite nonetheless and this will be one of his biggest challenges.
Bournemouth’s ascendancy through the divisions under his leadership was remarkable, though facilitated partly by Maxim Denim’s takeover in 2011. It wasn’t one long fairytale, and neither was Howe’s other stint in management with Burnley between 2011-2012.
It has always been debated, though, how he would fare at a Tottenham or an Everton. Even the England job hasn’t seemed out of his reach.
North of the border, Howe may finally be given the chance to prove himself, well aware that his stock has fallen considerably over the past 18 months.
There are no shortage of challenges as he looks to capture the imagination of a dressing room which Lennon seems to have lost.
It will now be an uphill struggle for the Scottish champions to qualify from Group H, but there is still hope in domestic football. Rangers looked to be turning the tables before Christmas a year ago, only for Celtic to turn things around in the second half of the season.
That is what they will have to do again. Aside from the question of whether Lennon was ever really the right man for the job second time around, Celtic can’t afford to get it wrong this time.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/366xwwC
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