Neil Lennon blasts former Celtic star for his comments

Neil Lennon has responded after the former Celtic player lashed out over the new signing’s recent performances for the Hoops.

Celtic have drawn much criticism in recent weeks due to their poor form in play, including flak from Michael Stewart who said their lack of form and tactics is “destroying the team“.

This theme continued on Monday, as Kris Commons called out Celtic’s new loanee Shane Duffy for his poor form in recent weeks as reported by The Scottish Sun.

He spoke at length of Duffy’s performances, saying:

"“Duffy just looks like an accident waiting to happen. A bomb scare and that’s a criticism which used to be leveled at my old teammate Efe Ambrose. But I tell you what. On current form, I’d take Efe over Duffy all day long. Some people have branded him the Irish Efe Ambrose but that’s doing Efe a real disservice.”"

He continued, describing Efe Ambrose’s play relative to Duffy:

"“Yeah, okay, he took too many chances and sometimes made supporters nervous. But at least with Efe you knew there was a player in there. He was quick, had great recovery pace, great athleticism and he could bring the ball out from the back. I’ve not seen any of that yet from Duffy.”"

Commons unnecessarily called Duffy “rank rotten from the minute he walked in the door”, and Hoop fans have been criticizing his play outright for some time now.

Luckily, Neil Lennon is not one to let others criticize his players so harshly without a reply.

Today Lennon responded during a press conference and The Scottish Sun reported him as saying:

"“Shane needs to find his feet. He has had a bumpy week, nothing more nothing less. It happens. I am not happy with the treatment he is getting from certain quarters of the media. I think it is hysterical. Comments that he is rank rotten and he is a bombscare. You’ve seen it – you know what I’m talking about. I find that ridiculous.”"

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Obviously, Duffy can perform when in form, as he had proven during his first few matches with the Hoops. Ever since those games, however, he has been on a fairly steady decline, and over Celtic’s disheartening two losses and unfortunate draw over the past week, he has looked like a weakness at the back.

Hoops fans will be hoping that the Republic of Ireland interanational can rebound in the coming weeks, as the Bhoys will need a quick turnaround in form to stay competitive both in the Europa League as well as their quest for a tenth-straight league title.

The Bhoys face an in-form LOSC Lille who have four wins and two draws in their last six matches across all competitions. With Celtic’s defense being a liability at the moment, Lille, who have outscored opponents 15-3 in that span, could cause some trouble. Hopefully, the defence will have sorted out its issues by then though.