Kelvin Wilson: Celtic players must take bulk of the blame
‘It’s like they’re not batting an eyelid’: Celtic players must take the blame for their disastrous season, insists former defender Kelvin Wilson, and he says it’s unfair to lay ’10-in-a-row’ failure squarely at Neil Lennon’s feet
- Neil Lennon resigned from his role as Celtic manager on Wednesday morning
- The former midfielder has lost his job after a disastrous title defence in Scotland
- However, former defender Kelvin Wilson says some fault lies with his players
As much as their positions are much sought after, there is always an inherent unfairness to the life of a football manager.
Lead a team to unimaginable heights and the bulk of the praise always tends to flow towards those who you select to take to the field of play.
Preside over a slump in fortunes, though, and rest assured that the buck stops squarely with you.
Neil Lennon has resigned as manager of Celtic after a disastrous season on and off the pitch
As Celtic’s lamentable season limps on, Neil Lennon, who resigned on Wednesday morning, could be forgiven for believing that he’s the beginning and the end of the club’s problems.
While the scatter gun of criticism has spared no one, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that the manager has been subjected to a rather disproportionate degree of the flak that’s flown.
Signed by Lennon in 2011, Kelvin Wilson seeks to absolve no one of blame for a campaign that promised much but has delivered nothing but embarrassment and angst.
However, one former defender insists that part of the blame must lie at the feet of the players
In the interest of balance, however, the 35-year-old questions what exactly those players who the manager has trusted have brought to the table.
‘I don’t think it is fair,’ Wilson told the Celtic Huddle podcast.
‘He’ll (Lennon) never shy away from something or hide away. He’ll always face up to things head on. Me, watching the games I have, it’s been about the players.
‘It’s like a lot of them don’t want to be there. I mean, you’re playing for ten in a row, making history.
‘Even if it’s not pretty, you’re making sure you get the results. Yet to see some of them, it’s just like they’re not batting an eyelid.
‘I don’t know them personally, I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. But, from a fan looking in, as an ex-player, it looks like a lot of them don’t want to be there — they’ve got their mind set elsewhere in the summer.
Kelvin Wilson was signed by Neil Lennon in 2011 and spoke to the Celtic Huddle Podcast
‘I wouldn’t blame Neil. Yes, he might have got a few things wrong and I’m sure he’d hold his hands up to that. But, when the players go on the pitch, it’s down to them then. It’s out of Lenny’s hands.’
Any degree of encouragement Lennon had taken from a run of five straight wins evaporated in Dingwall on Sunday.
The manner in which his side conceded the only goal of the game — a set-piece then a free header — was wearyingly familiar.
Lennon was fairly measured in his post-match interview but his suggestion that certain players ‘maybe don’t want to get hurt or throw their body in the way of things’ was revealing.
‘When I played under Neil — and he had a different backroom team then with Johan (Mjallby) and Garry (Parker) — you couldn’t concede from set-pieces or else you’d be getting dug out for it,’ said Wilson.
‘So, it baffles me how one of Neil Lennon’s teams can concede so many from set-pieces. It’s again and again and again, every week.
‘And it’s costing them the games. Every game near enough it’s a set-piece. It’s baffling.’
Lennon and his side had been expected to challenge for a record tenth consecutive title
While no one associated with the club believed the quest to land ten in a row was going to be anything other than a fierce battle, nor could they possibly have countenanced such a meek surrender.
It says much that Sunday’s defeat to a Ross County side who started the game at the foot of the table came as absolutely no surprise.
‘No one saw this season coming,’ added Wilson.
‘Usually, you look at the results and you think: “Did Celtic win again this week?”
‘But I’m now looking and thinking: “Have they lost again?”
‘Which I don’t think has ever been the case with Celtic, especially in the league. So, I think seeing what’s happened this year, it won’t happen again, I don’t think. Not for a long time.
‘I don’t think Celtic will be so poor like this for a long time.
‘Even if they weren’t going to do the ten in a row, it should’ve been a much, much tighter title race.’
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