Great post Bandage. 
Iâd like to see the following side picked today.
[Soccer][gk]Forster[/gk]
[rb] Matthews [/rb] [rcb]Ambrose[/rcb] [lcb]Wilson[/lcb] [lb]Chalmers[/lb]
[rm]McGeouch[/rm] [rcm]Kayal[/rcm] [lcm]McCourt[/lcm] [lm]Mulgrew[/lm]
[rst]Watt[/rst] [lst]Miku[/lst]
[/Soccer]
A piece on Neil Lennon from Douglas Alexander in The Sunday Times:
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[b]A coming of age[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Masterminding the unlikeliest of victories against Barcelona has thrust Celtic manager Neil Lennon into the European spotlight[/b][/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]OLDER. Calmer. Wiser. Thatâs the prevailing view of Neil Lennon these days. No longer feuding with officials but instead focused on bringing the best out of his team, as he did so impressively against Barcelona on Wednesday night. Yet the old fire is still in there, too. After Tony Watt made it 2-0, the 18-year-old striker tore away from Javier Mascherano again and was barged by the Argentina international as he threatened to score a third goal for Celtic. The referee completely ignored the foul and the fourth official faced Lennonâs ire at that cop out.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]It is the combination of his passion and the icy decision-making we saw last week that makes Lennon such a formidable proposition as a manager at the tender age of 41. When his touchline confrontation with Ally McCoist was hysterically blown out of all proportion in March 2011, he quietly noted many similar incidents previously had not received such coverage. He mentioned this again last April, when Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini had to be kept apart during a tense Manchester derby as the race for the English Premier League title intensified.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Potently mixing reason with galvanising emotion is the mark of any elite football manager. As Ferguson mellowed, slightly, from the Pittodrie firebrand of the early 1980s into the version seen at Manchester United, so, too, will Lennon. If Ferguson can still erupt occasionally aged 70, then Lennon will not always be able to release his feelings as judiciously as he did in a rousing team talk before Wednesdayâs match.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]It was inspired by the previous nightâs service to mark 125 years since Celticâs formation. âI just felt something in the air the night before when I was at the anniversary ceremony at St Maryâs, just the atmosphere and the ambience,â he said. âIt was a reflection on the history of the club, which you do think about but you donât really know the whole story. I got a wee bit of a kick out of it and thought, âCould it be our night tomorrow?ââ[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Yet later that same night, Scott Brown, his captain, succumbed to a virus, throwing Lennon a selection curve ball. He was already without Gary Hooper, his leading striker, Emilio Izaguirre, his regular left-back, and James Forrest, whose pace is another important part of his tactical toolkit. Instead of lamenting their absences, he cleverly blended them into his pre-match address to his remaining players, reminding them of a duty to maintain this seasonâs European progress on behalf of their missing colleagues.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Celtic sailed through the qualifiers against HJK Helsinki and Helsingborgs IF, winning all four of their matches to an aggregate of 8-1. If a 0-0 draw with Benfica on opening night of the Champions League was a slight stutter, the accomplished 3-2 win over Spartak Moscow in the Russian capital was Celticâs first away one in the group stage at the 19th attempt. It was a gorilla off their back and that showed in the mature performance they produced at Camp Nou, where Barcelona required Jordi Albaâs goal three minutes and 16 seconds into stoppage time to win 2-1.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]That performance was widely lauded but it still grated with Lennon that his men hadnât quite seen it through. He didnât want them to be gallant losers, didnât want Barcelona to leave Glasgow praising the incredible atmosphere politely after securing another three points. âPeople are not just talking about the atmosphere and the spectacle, they are talking about the team,â he noted with obvious satisfaction on Friday.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]It has been assembled astutely using the expertise of John Park, the clubâs coveted football development manager, but also a large measure of Lennonâs judgment on key signings such as the prolific Hooper and the versatile Charlie Mulgrew, who had previously been discarded by the club. Celticâs starting line-up and substitutes on Wednesday cost less than ÂŁ7m; Barcelonaâs more than ÂŁ160m, despite the three best players in it, Leo Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez, all being products of their vaunted youth academy. In the closing stages, they pushed on three World Cup winners, David Villa, Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique, as substitutes.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]In Lennonâs line-up, there were several towering performances. Victor Wanyama, signed for ÂŁ900,000 from Germinal Beerschot of Belgium, was a midfield colossus, suggesting his managerâs recent ÂŁ25m valuation of him in response to interest from Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal might not have been so fanciful after all. Fraser Forsterâs display again justified his belated call-up by England after being overlooked for the Euro 2012 finals last summer. Adam Matthews was a revelation at left-back, coping, in turn, with Messiâs guile and Pedroâs pace.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]It was partly a desire not to move the Welshman from that post that saw Lennon send on Watt, signed for ÂŁ80,000 from Airdrie United in January 2011. His pace terrorised Mascherano and eventually led to Alba being instructed by an alarmed Tito Vilanova, Barcelonaâs coach, to use his speed as an antidote to Wattâs in the closing moments rather than as an auxiliary attacker.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Alba had already been constricted by a canny performance from Kris Commons, who showed hitherto unsuspected defensive awareness. âHe was brilliant in the role he had to play, he made so many interceptions,â said Lennon. âHis fitness levels were fantastic and heâs added another dimension to his game. Heâs put himself in trouble now. Heâs going to have to play like that defensively from now on because he has shown me he can do it when he puts his mind to it. He used all his savvy and sacrificed a lot for the team, thatâs a real string to his bow.â[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Lennon has also displayed a range many of his detractors previously argued he did not possess. He was viewed initially with suspicion as a populist appointment and Celtic considered giving him a more experienced minder. They offered that role to Gordon Strachan last year, shortly before Celtic rallied from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at Kilmarnock and began eating into Rangersâ lead at the top of the Premier League.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]Importantly, Rangers were overhauled before their subsequent financial meltdown and points deduction. That allowed Lennon to establish he would have succeeded in delivering Celticâs first title for four years in any case.[/size][/font]
[font=Verdana][size=3]âI am a work in progress,â he said. âIt does irk me that people say, âHeâs learning from his mistakes.â Every manager makes decisions one way or the other. They work for you or they donât, otherwise you would win every game. Even the greatest managers lose games. Is that a mistake? Thatâs never thrown at them. Do they learn from their mistakes? Come on. What you learn from is your experiences, the good ones and the bad ones, and you try and minimise the bad experiences and make the most of the good ones.â Wednesdayâs win was certainly the latter.
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Strong team selected today. I thought he might have switched it up a bit more. Tony Watt is on the bench.
Celtic
[Soccer][gk]Forster[/gk]
[rb] Matthews [/rb] [rcb]Ambrose[/rcb] [lcb]Wilson[/lcb] [lb]Mulgrew[/lb]
[rm]Brown[/rm] [rcm]Wanyama[/rcm] [lcm]Ledley[/lcm] [lm]Commons[/lm]
[rst]Samaras[/rst] [lst]Miku[/lst]
[/Soccer]
Thought Watt would have started too but canât argue with Miku keeping his place and Sammy probably still working on his fitness.
Would like to see McGeouch getting a run from the bench.
Slow enough start but beginning to impose ourselves on the game now.
Fairly flat alright. Samaras has moved wide left and Commons has a free role off Miku now.
Good effort from Commons there, heâs been lively since moving inside.
Pace gone out of the game again. Lacking a bit of width up front - midfield tucking in which leaves a lot of isolated attacking responsibility on the full backs.
Think Tony Watt will get a fairly early call in the second half. His constant movement should help unsettle their defence.
Watt for Miku.
Miku injured? Watt better suited to this type of game anyway.
What a finish young man.
1-0. Tony Fucking Watt.
What a guy.
Why doesnât Lennon start Watt? He is the best striker at the club by miles.
Sloppy spell by Celtic there. Getting control of the ball back again now. Need the cushion of the second goal.
Kayal for a knackered Ledley. Commons screaming to come off too. :lol:
What a save by Forster.
What a save young man.
1-1. Celtic didnât clear the resulting corner properly. Tidy finish.