For anyone saying it, for anyone thinking it – Neil Lennon must not be removed from this job for all of the following reasons:

1. He has improved the team massively since the debacle of last season.
2. We have and are in this race until the end but personally I think it is over (we were out of it on February 1st last season Robbie Keane and all).
3. We have reached 2 cup finals – one we lost after extra time to a dubious free kick not replayed a million times – funny that.
4. Neil Lennon has assembled a team with guile and heart who for the most part, have delivered despite being thrown together rather quickly and asked to hit the ground running
5. We have lost a grand total of 5 matches in Scotland under Neil Lennon from 40 odd.
6. Our European season was a disaster but again there are clear and obvious reasons for that which will only be addressed in this close season.
7. Our rivals spent more on their team than Neil Lennon.
8. Hooper, Commons, Kayal, Izzaguirre have all come in and made a huge impact and are worth over 20Million to the club combined and we have therefore money we can access and frankly I would sell one of these guys to help the coffers and ease the debt of losing CL football.
9. Neil Lennon has improved Brown, Wilson and Mulgrew beyond expectations and that is a fact.
10. Neil Lennon has united the support and brought the thunder back as he promised to.
11.. In 3 ties he is undefeated at Ibrox.
12. He has the best record of ANY Celtic manager against the goat’s blood mixer.
13. He will not accept 2nd best from himself or his team.
14. The animals are terrified of him.
15. We will not get a better man at this stage in our history.
16. He goes head to head next season against a novice coach who will have to make many changes to his own playing staff on an unknown budget and the possibility of further trouble to come given the side shows surrounding that club.
17. He has a good support and backroom team.
18. He knows what areas of the team need strengthened and will do so.
19. He has real courage which none of us can doubt.
20. We still have something to play for this season and it is MUST WIN.

Our opponents are not the skint little souls they are made out to be. The evil Llloyds bank allowed them a 8 million pound spend this summer (for the first time partly based on their income from 2 transfers not the get now pay later schemes they have operated under for decades).

Their Strikeforce is more expensive than ours (albeit Lafferty is a big walking, lumbering cretin)
Their midfield is more experienced and cost more than ours.
Their defence is the same - cost more than ours.
Go player for player and do the Math.
Only Scott Brown cost any money in the Celtic team of any note.

We bought cheap and have more value in our squad but the truth is their spending has enabled them to beat the SPL dross more effectively than our live within our means spending.

But it is only one season for Neil Lennon and to lose 5 games and some people want to give him stick simply doesn’t wash for me. He made mistakes by selecting Maloney and being too lightweight against the tractor boys who don’t play football, they are hoof and hope but this is Scotland and that is what works – but his hand was forced – Ledley is out and that caused the problem – that is why the wee waste of space was back in and make no mistake, that wee guy should be booted out of the club – another present from the Strachan regime – a waste of money on a guy who had one good season and whose real name is sicknote.

I said this last night and I’ll say it again. In cleaning up Mowbray’s mess, Lennon has shown that he can very quickly identify weak links and dispose of them from the team. WE are still paying for January 09 and the disaster of Mowbray. We have had no closure and we need this cup to give Neil and the team the springboard to the new season.

Neil’s job from here on in contains the following requirements:

1. Go until the last game with the team and see what happens
2. WIN THAT BLOODY CUP AT ALL COSTS against another wee rat faced cheat whose team lay down and will not lie down next Sunday proving what we all knew and know – animal protection society in operation
3. Remove ALL of the following players from the Squad

Cervi – never going to do
Zaluszka – time come and gone
Hinkel – for wages alone and he is off anyway
Cha – first half decent offer
J. Thompson – will never cut it
Loovens – anywhere please God
Hooiveld – Copenhagen willing to pay 1.5M
McGinn – some championship team – 500,000
Maloney – tear his contract up – never fit long enough and too cowardly
Rasmussen – some club in Denmark – 1.2M
Murphy – 3 goals and little else – move on to somewhere in England 500,000 or less
Samaras – first decent offer
Ki – generate funds – 2M – get our money back

Now that’s 13 players and they need to go from the wage bill and from that they will generate decent money.

4. Retain Kayal at any cost unless a bid of 15 million comes in.

5. Retain Izzaguirre if possible, if not sell for a huge profit – remember he may only be a one season wonder.

6. Fix the defence and get a real keeper not a chicken like Forster (don’t go to Newcastle for keepers – that is daft). Also get height and pace into the defence.

7. 1 midfield play maker required.

8. 1 powerful striker who can head the ball and hold up play required with height.

9. Get us through Euro qualifiers for the Europa League (more likely than CL either way).

10. Do not quit.

Be under no illusions, Neil has done a great job cleaning up other people’s messes and has brought us closer than we were last season and for that, we must stick with him and see it through. He has made mistakes but he done more things right than wrong.

He is one of us, we are the same as he is. We all share his feelings for the club and we will be back. WE just can’t get enough and we know it. No matter how much we complain, we won’t leave the club we love alone for very long.

I’m not feeding anyone garbage here, just being realistic.

We have seen how Scottish football acts towards us – with extreme hostility and we are stronger for it.

We may not win the league but we can and I believe will win this cup and we need to for all our sakes. Come on Neil and come on Celtic.