Can Lennon survive after Celtic's Scottish Cup flop?

Danny Law — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:13:00 GMT

Reality may slowly be returning to Dingwall, the sleepy Highland town with a modest population of 5,000, after the frenzied excitement created by Ross County's shock semi-final victory over Glasgow giants Celtic at the weekend.

There will certainly have been more than a few locals nursing sore heads on Sunday morning after having woken from celebrating the most famous result in their club's short history.

The 2-0 win for County will also have left Celtic's interim manager Neil Lennon with a painful headache, wondering where it all went wrong. The Northern Irishman's chances of landing the Celtic post on a permanent basis have drastically diminished following the surprise defeat.

For Lennon, who as a player more than made up for his speed and skill deficiencies with buckets of passion and commitment, it must have been especially galling to see the lack of fight from his players as they exited the competition with hardly a whimper.

After seeing his side's last chance of winning some silverware disappear, Lennon said: “There was no desire. I'm sick of seeing our players fall over. I am sick of seeing strikers not wanting to go in where it hurts to score a goal for the team. We can't keep clean sheets either as we're too soft. We don't have enough winners.”

It was a damning, frank and accurate assessment. But while it may be the players who should take the blame for the defeat, it is more likely the cup upset will convince the Celtic board that a manager of more experience than rookie Lennon is required to bring success back to the east end of Glasgow.

Ross County, though, deserved their victory and their presence in next month's final provides further evidence for those in favour of an expanded 16-team SPL.

The weekend's other Scottish Cup semi-final between Dundee United and Raith Rovers would not provide a similar fairytale for the First Division side.

David Goodwillie's cool finish and Andy Webster's second half header ensured it would be Peter Houston's men who will return to Hampden on May 15 as favourites to lift the trophy.

Back in the SPL, life is becoming very intriguing at the bottom of the table. Only one point separates the bottom three sides following Falkirk's 2-1 win over St Mirren and Hearts' 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock.

Mark McGhee's Aberdeen also remain far from safe after another defeat – this time a 3-1 reverse at home to St Johnstone – and are now only six points ahead of bottom side Falkirk with the Bairns set to visit Pittodrie this Saturday.

Hamilton Accies, however, gave themselves some valuable breathing space with a magnificent 4-1 win over fourth-placed Hibernian who have now won only three matches in their previous 14.

It is hard to believe John Hughes' charges were at one stage being tipped to split the Old Firm. They may now be looking over their shoulder as Hearts and Motherwell bid to pip them for fourth spot.

Scottish Football League Round Up

Inverness Caledonian Thistle are two wins away from returning to the SPL after a 3-1 win at Palmerston Park over Queen of the South. Dundee, who defeated Partick Thistle 1-0, remain ready to pounce should the Highlanders slip up in their remaining three matches.

The champagne was put on ice at Almondvale where Livingston, only requiring a point to claim the Third Division title, were beaten 3-2 by Forfar. Alloa's Second Division title hopes were also dealt a blow with a similar 3-2 reverse at home to Brechin.

It's been a good week for... Derek Adams The young Ross County manager continues to enhance his growing reputation. It can surely only be a matter of time before he is prised away from Dingwall to take charge of an SPL side.

It's been a bad week for.. Neil Lennon. The Celtic caretaker boss may struggle to land the position on a permanent basis after Saturday's crushing cup exit.

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Lennon galvanises Hoops but Gers win again

Danny Law — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:24:00 GMT

The end of Tony Mowbray's brief and unsuccessful era at Celtic arguably began with a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at the start of last month.

Robbie Keane was making his début for the Hoops following his loan move to his boyhood idols and the elated Celtic support began to believe that with the Republic of Ireland star in their ranks they could catch league leaders Rangers.

However such hope was short-lived with the match ending in disappointment for Keane and the Celtic faithful as another on-loan débutant Chris Maguire scored the only goal of the match for Kilmarnock to further dent the title aspirations of Mowbray's side.

With Mowbray handed his jotters following the crushing 4-0 midweek defeat to St Mirren, it seemed apt that Killie would provide the opposition for interim manager Neil Lennon in his first game in charge of the Hoops.

This time Keane's presence would not be overshadowed as the striker netted his 10th and 11th goals in 11 games to lead his side to victory. Scott Brown added a third before Craig Bryson grabbed a late and meaningless consolation for the Ayrshire outfit.

The Celts appeared galvanised by Lennon's presence in the dug-out, with his Killie counterpart Jimmy Calderwood admitting afterwards that he felt his side were “lucky to get away with 3-1.” However next week's trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian will prove a much sterner challenge for the inexperienced Celtic manager.

"Oi! Over there!"

Elsewhere, Rangers were out to rubbish the accusations that they play defensive, negative football with an all-out attacking display as they ran out 4-1 winners over Hearts. Steven Naismith continued his recent run of good form by scoring twice for the Gers, who remain 10 points ahead with two games in hand.

The performance of the day, however, could be credited to Peter Houston's Dundee United. Despite being reduced to 10 men after only 16 minutes when full-back Paul Dixon saw red, United scored three without reply against a Motherwell defence that had been breached only three times in their previous 11 matches.

Hibernian recovered from their midweek Scottish Cup exit to Ross County by running out 3-1 victors over bottom side Falkirk, while Aberdeen clung onto their faint hopes of reaching the top six with their first win in 12 matches against a jaded St Mirren.

Hamilton Accies, meanwhile, took a gigantic step towards SPL safety with a 1-0 win over St Johnstone thanks to James Wesolowski's strike to move Billy Reid's men 11 points clear of Falkirk.

Scottish Football League Round Up
Inverness Caledonian Thistle claimed top spot in the First Division with a fine 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. Ross County did their Highland neighbours a favour by scoring a late equaliser against Dundee, who are now a point behind Terry Butcher's pacesetters.

Stirling Albion got themselves back into the Second Division promotion race by handing Cowdenbeath their first defeat in eight games. League leaders Alloa Athletic also stumbled at Gayfield Park with a goalless draw against Arbroath.

Livingston's march towards the Third Division title continued with a 1-0 win over Queen's Park. The Livi Lions only need six points from their remaining eight matches to secure the title.

It's been a good week for... Terry Butcher. Not so long ago it looked like nobody could catch Dundee in the First Division title race but Inverness have toppled the Dens Park side as the league draws to an exciting climax.

It's been a bad week for... Tony Mowbray, obviously. A disastrous 4-0 defeat to St Mirren ended Mowbray's time in charge at Celtic Park and it is now up to interim boss Neil Lennon to rouse the Hoops.

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Fitba' Focus : Inverness

Can Lennon survive after Celtic's Scottish Cup flop?

Lennon galvanises Hoops but Gers win again