On a night where Lennon needed a performance he made the big calls and dropped the stars that have been letting him down. Tonight there was no Brown, Christie, Edouard or N’tcham. Barkas and Bain found themselves both on the bench and young Connor Hazard got the nod for duty between the sticks.
Soro was dynamic and commanding in the midfield. Loads of energy and broke up and Lille attacks that came his way. Calm and assured on the ball and able to pick a pass the young man passed his European debut with flying colours.
Turnbull provided vision and youthful exuberance in the middle of the park. Great delivery from dead ball situations and took his goal with the deadly accuracy and coolness Edouard would have been proud of. The look of joy on his face as he was sitting in the stand tells you what this meant to the young man.
Klimala was full of running. Offering an outlet and chased down every ball. Never gave the Lille defenders peace for a minute and was unlucky to notch a goal if it wasn’t for the cat like reflexes of the Lille keeper.
Every player tonight gave it their all. Every player tonight was fighting for the team and fighting, it seemed, for their manager. Neil Lennon will no doubt be delighted at the overall performance and the difference of effort on the park tonight. Hopefully the Celtic gaffer will look and see that he has been far too loyal to those first team “stars” that have let him down so badly this season.
Chris Sutton, post match, hit the nail on the head. These players are now un-droppable. Lennon MUST start with these guys on Sunday afternoon and give them a run in the team to build momentum. They didn’t let him down tonight, he must not let them down.