Celtic Neil Lennon is amazed by the relentless way current Celtic stars play over 60 games a season, as reported by The Daily Record.
By the team the season finishes the Hoops will have played a massive 63 matches since last summer, with the season kicking off on 10th July in UEFA Champions League qualifying.
When chasing multiple trophies and looking to progress in Europe, it makes for a gruelling schedule and Lennon is impressed with the way his squad handles the pressure and physical exertion.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the 47-year-old said:
Players are going to suffer eventually and I’ve seen that already here. It’s like 12 months of the year, when do you give them a rest?
Martin was huge on that. Some days you’d be in on a Saturday and he’d say, ‘I’ll see you on Wednesday or Thursday’. You wouldn’t see him until the following Saturday right enough!
At the minute these boys don’t have the opportunity to do that. Yet they’ve maintained their standards all this time, kept their consistency levels and that’s been amazing.
It’s a big ask at times and it’s unfair on the Scottish teams. So a revamp would be welcome in certain aspects.
The current appearance leader in the Celtic side is Callum McGregor who has played a massive 53 times already throughout the campaign, 51 of which have been starts.
His tireless performances have been the beating heart of the starting eleven this season and is rightly earning plaudits for his massive contribution.
Others such as James Forrest and Scott Brown aren’t far away from his total, amassing 52 and 46 appearances.
This Scottish core to the team are crucial and Lennon is right to be impressed.
As he notes though it does have its dangers, with the recent fitness problems Kieran Tierney has suffered a direct consequence of playing too many matches all-year round.
Hopefully with more investment in quality players this summer, we can see our most important players earn some tactical rest when needed.