Neil Lennon explains his massive Glasgow Derby decisions

Neil Lennon explained two of his biggest decisions in the Glasgow Derby but in hindsight it is clear that none of them worked out for Celtic.

Judging by Celtic’s toothless display against the Rangers, it is clear that not much worked out well for them. The players did not seem up for the fight on the pitch while Neil Lennon seemed to have run out of ideas.

To be fair to the Hoops though, the starting XI was nowhere near their strongest. And Lennon’s hand had been forced to a large extent owing to the number of players who were ruled out leading up to the game. Two of the biggest decisions though were clearly to start with Klimala and Welsh on the day.

Neither of them quite stood out on the day and in hindsight, Lennon would have been better served playing different players or changing his system. Speaking ahead of the game, he had this to say about his selections though while speaking with BBC Scotland Radio and as transcribed by 67 Hail Hail:

"“Welsh trains every day, he’s part of the squad, never lets us down, so no problem playing him.“Klimala, he’s hungry.“What these two will give us is effervescence, hunger and desire. That’s maybe been lacking in some areas.“I’m comfortable with Klimala and Welsh starting, two young players who will bring some energy to the team.”"

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Klimala has impressed this season when given the opportunity and with Edouard out, Ajeti returning from an injury and Griffiths not featuring much this season, it was probably understandable that the Pole was given the nod. The addition of Welsh was a bit more surprising though.

He has not featured much at all for Celtic. But with Christopher Jullien, Nir Bitton and Hatem Abd Elhamed all out, Lennon was left searching for a fit centre-back for his three-man defence. One has to question though whether it would have been better to revert back to a conventional four man backline. But even that would have come with its problems with so many players out.

What is done is done though. There is no point mulling over the loss. It is important we take the lessons from the game and move forward.