I can see being brought on to hold the ball and protect leads in the run-in but Lennon clearly seems to prefer Brown in the centre and that’s understandable given his greater experience in the SPL, his more aggressive style, and his form over the past few games out wide and in the centre. I don’t think I’d be risking Ki and Kayal together in a partnership that haven’t played that often so I’d go for the tried and trusted.
Maloney might well be another option out wide but I said on here months ago that he’s infinitely better in a central role than out wide. He seems to get lost when he goes wide and he tried to beat too many men instead of getting crosses in and linking up with the full-back. He’s an option if things aren’t going well but it was interesting that he came off the bench up front at the weekend and that’s where I think he might feature again - in advance of possibly replacing Stokes on Sunday.
[indent]Paul Lambert reckons the hardest part of his Norwich glory campaign was being sin-binned like old pal Neil Lennon.
Ex-Celtic and Scotland captain Lambert was still celebrating with his players yesterday after clinching promotion to the Barclays Premier League with a 1-0 win at Portsmouth.
However, it was being separated from those players with a touchline suspension last month that gave Lambert his toughest task.
He was banned from the dugout for two away games - at Nottingham Forest and Ipswich - and has vowed never to endure that again.
The 41-year-old said: "It was terrible watching from the stand. I have learned my lesson and hope not to have to go through that again. The fact we won both games at least meant the experience was not costly. But it was mental torture. I need to be in a dugout to communicate with players. A directors’ box is not for me.
"The suspension meant I was only allowed in the dressing room until an hour before kick-off and not at half-time, which was frustrating.
"It was my own fault. I had complained to the ref in a game at Reading about Grant Holt being wrongly sent off. I had to take my punishment.
[b]"However, I don’t know how Neil Lennon could sit through five games like that at Celtic. Compared with the sentences given to managers in England it is shocking what Lenny had to put up with.
“People in Scotland should have a look at that. His ban was out of line.”[/b][/indent]
A pretty bland performance so far from Celtic. Being pressed pretty hard in a tight pitch and failing to get any rythm going. Maloney has been non-existent and I think we should introduce McCourt for him soon.
Not passing the ball well and tentative and uncertain at the back. A big improvement required. I’d go for Ki to replace Maloney if Shaun doesn’t up it early in the second half.
Sloppy. Myself and Bandage are in agreement on Maloney anyway. He’s neither playing as a conventional winger like Forrest or as a narrow midfielder like Brown or Commons. Nothing is going right for him and it’s the same every time ge plays on the flank as far as I’m concerned.
Defending is a bit alarming. Centre halves aren’t covering back properly and Mulgrew is heading everything into the ground. Need Brown to pick up breaking balls at the edge of our box the way Ledley does because they’re picking up loose ball there.
Stokes and Hooper both look sharp though on limited possession. Pitch is very dry but we should still be capable of working the ball around in their half. Not alarmed yet buy definitely not convincing so far.
Don’t take this as being negative, but a draw is not a disaster. I’m still confident that we can sort out the issues and go on to win the game but we don’t need to leave ourselves completely exposed in trying to win it in the last 10 minutes and risk the possibility of a concession.