I FIND myself growing to like Neil Lennon more and more with each passing week. The lack of any kind of challenge domestically has been good for the wee man - I often felt he allowed himself to become carried away with all the Old Firm nonsense, without that distraction, he has been able to concentrate on management and his stature has grown.
Of course, Celtic are in what the tabloids will surely call: "The Group of Death" in the Champions League; but, as Lennon himself pointed out, Celtic's stature is such that, while they will be rated as the outsiders, they bring a share of the glamour to this most-glamourous of the groups.
That Celtic are rated so low isn't entirely their own doing, they might not be getting the regular exposure at the really sharp end of the competition which was the norm during the Stein era, when the last eight was the least the Celtic family expected, but, Celtic and Celtic alone have been upholding the Scottish co-efficient these last few years.
If the other Scottish clubs had performed with any sort of consistency and got through the occasional qualifying round, then Celtic would have been in a higher pot this time round.
OK, the current team are no Lisbon Lions, but, as they proved last season, they can still bite in Europe and you can be sure, Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax will know, they face hard games home and away against Celtic, while the prospect of facing a charged-up Parkhead full house will not exactly fill them with over-confidence.
Also, we are judging these teams by previous standards. Barca are not the team they were even three years ago, AC are a long way short of the great teams of the past, such as the Van Basten/Gullit/Reijkhard/Baresi/Maldini ones. Ditto, there is no Cruyff, or any of the above-named Dutch legends in the current Ajax line-up.
Getting through that group into the last 16 will be a huge ask, but, I wouldn't write-off Neil Lennon's Celtic. This current crop of Celts seem very "Scottish" to me - don't worry about them when facing a so-called "big" team, but, be very concerned when they are expected to triumph - which is clearly not the case in this CL group.
As I said above, the last 16 will be a big ask - grabbing the consolation Europa League spot and going far in that competition is not beyond Lennon's Lads.
THE lady in my life lives a long goal kick from Rugby Park and, on Tuesday night, because we arrived back from London and I had driven up from the Imperial Capital, I wasn't able to go to Rugby Park for the League Cup tie against Hamilton.
However, as I unwound on her patio I could clearly hear the crowd noise (more of a whisper actually) from the ground. It was clear there weren't many fans there, but, unless Celtic are calling, there never is a big crowd there these days. It was also clear that Killie were struggling and I knew from the noise that Accies had scored the only goal of the game.
But, I was totally unprepared from the reaction I got from a very prominent and long-standing Killie fan when I bumped into him in the Crosshouse Hospital car park (bumped into him, not his car, I should add). He was still livid and apparently, just a matter of weeks into his reign, Allan Johnston is almost as unpopular among the fans as namesake and chairman Michael.
The "Magic" has gone, apparently. Come on lads, give him a chance, after all, he took a wee while to gel in the calmer watrers of Palmerston.
Fans today - instant success or else.
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