Lennon wronged - but days may be numbered

Ultimately, the people are to have what they want.

The people are of course Rangers fans and the contingent amongst Celtic supporters who have always desired to see the back of Neil Lennon. Saturday, 23rd of December may well be noted as the day that the final decision was made to replace the Celtic captain, following the 1-0 win over Falkirk.

First, the good. Since signing for Celtic in 2000, Neil Lennon has made an immense contribution to the club’s success, including four SPL championship wins, three Scottish Cups, two league (CIS) cups and a Uefa cup final.

In each of those season’s, Lennon has been integral to the club’s success, playing in a defensive/holding midfield role. Lately, though, it has been apparent that a player who was never the most naturally athletic footballer has struggled a little to keep up with the game. With a player like Lennon, the decline is not always dramatic and startlingly obvious. A general lack of pace and acceleration has generally, in the past, been overcome by excellent reading of the game and rigid adherence to a role that did not involve covering a huge area of the pitch.

However, Lennon’s judgement of the flow of a game and anticipation of opposition players’ runs and passes has allowed him to perform at an exceptionally high level when younger, quicker players would find themselves out of their depth. Now, though, he is becoming a little exposed and, though the thought would horrify him, arguably a weak link in the Celtic midfield.

The sad irony is that Celtic need a player with his incessant desire to be better and to push ever harder for that extra ounce of success. Recent weeks have seen a team with ever growing talent occasionally appear to lack the hunger to face SPL teams with the relish required to perform to the ultimate level.

In the midst of this has been Lennon, roaring his team-mates on. But the incident with Aiden McGeady at the end of the match against Dunfermline has taken on a new significance in the context of today’s events. He may well have been unfortunate to receive a red card, if his head-to-head with Anthony Stokes was ill-advised.

However, his vitriolic reaction is perhaps indicative of a state of mind in which the player is becoming more acutely aware of the growing pressure he is under.

Last week, he complained that Kenny Clark’s decision to wrongly deny him a penalty against Rangers was perhaps due to personal antipathy referees have towards him.

And in truth, Ian Brines decision to award Celtic and Lennon a penalty, after Gordon Strachan noted that Celtic hadn’t had a spot kick in 19 matches - and then send Lennon off -- looked suspiciously like a man trying to dampen down criticism of his colleagues while sticking it to Lennon at the same time.

But, however understandable his anger was, the fact remains that Lennon has lost control of himself for the second time in three games. When that happens to a player of his experience, there is always room for suspicion of some underlying cause. In his case, a realisation that his days at the heart of the Celtic team and the prospect of a likely replacement in Evander Sno might be one explanation.

If such thoughts are also on Gordon Strachan’s mind, they would surely be weighed against the difficulty of phasing out a captain and iconic player. The probable lengthy ban Lennon will face just made that decision much easier.