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Scottish Premier League October 2011 News
Scottish Premier League News October 2011: Celtic handed a European reprieve
Ali Morrello
Celtic
It remains early days in Glasgow, but already Celtic and Neil Lennon are seriously under pressure in the SPL.
The Parkhead side have lost three games already this season - two of them this month to Rangers and Hearts - and they are currently ten points behind Rangers, albeit with one game in hand.
Still, the natives are getting restless.
Lennon captained Celtic to every domestic honour and knows just what is necessary to succeed at the club. No-one will need to tell him that he will not have the luxury of time if there is not a sudden and dramatic improvement in form.
"I am going to be under pressure because the fans will demand that results have to be better," said the Irishman.
"And, if results are not better soon, then I will have to look at my own position."
Worryingly for the Celtic boss there is a looming board meeting later this month and he will have to account for recent results.
"That just happens naturally," he said. "But it is not a good situation to be in at the minute.
"We have lost three games already in the SPL, and we only lost four all last season, so there is definitely something missing there."
The biggest worry for Lennon is the manner in which his side simply cannot defend.
Daniel Majstorovic has been utterly inept at the heart of the Hoops defence and Lennon has not been helped by injuries to key players such as Emilio Izaguirre, Kelvin Wilson and Scott Brown.
He explained: "I said to them before the Hearts game, 'People are questioning your mentality. Go and show them'.
"It looked to me that a few of them put their heads down and didn't believe we could get back in it when we lost a goal.
"Ultimately, I would have taken a draw, come away with that and worked from there.
"We have a game in hand, but we are still 10 points behind, and we have a lot of work to do and a lot of catching up to do.
"There was a lack of quality with the final ball and with their finishing. That, for me, was more disconcerting than the goals we conceded."
Meanwhile, Celtic stopper Daniel Majstorovic does not see himself as part of the problem where Celtic's defence is concerned, but rather as part of the solution.
The Swedish defender insists he's now back to his best form after receiving a "wake-up call" when he was dropped for the Old Firm derby.
Majstorovic has looked less than convincing on his return to the side as Celtic have slumped their worst start to a season in 20 years.
But the 34-year-old claims his game has improved since he was benched for the Old Firm clash last month in favour of Glenn Loovens and Kelvin Wilson.
He said: "I was dropped against Rangers and that was a wake-up call for me, a marker. Now I feel I have found my form again in the last few matches and I'm back to being myself.
"I feel good about myself again. I have no idea what caused my loss of form.
"I also played poorly for Sweden against Hungary. I felt I was definitely not playing at the level I should have been."
Rangers
The outlook for Rangers - on the field, at least - is bright as they attempt to win a fourth successive SPL title.
They go into the international break with the advantage of a 10-point lead over Celtic - who have a game in hand - and when Ally McCoist's players reassemble for club duty they will have no fewer than 10 consecutive weekend fixtures without interruption.
There was a fair amount of grumbling amongst the support when Rangers were dumped from the Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, by Malmo and Maribor respectively, but a tangible bond seems to be forming between the fans and their novice manager.
The Blue Order crew, who occupy a corner of the Broomloan Stand, are the Ibrox equivalent of Celtic's Green Brigade, and like their Parkhead counterparts they have taken to churning out a sustained barrage of chants, choruses and noise, most of which is in support of McCoist.
The Gers manager is delighted with the start Rangers have made but has attempted to play down the significance of the current lead his side hold.
"My only complaint in recent weeks is that we haven't killed teams off and taken a lot more of our chances," he said. "We have good boys up front and the return is good. Jelavic is more than capable of scoring goals at the top level and Lafferty as well.
"They keep going and I know more than anybody you'll go through periods when you don't take your chances.
“We are delighted with the ways things have gone for us. The character in the side is there for all to see and they have really come out and given their all this season so far. It has been a magnificent effort from all the lads, but I don't think we need to tell anyone that it is early days.
“There are no prizes handed out at this stage of the season and we need to keep on this track and keep getting the results. If we do that then hopefully we won't be far away."
Scotland
Craig Levein's already precarious preparations for the Euro 2012 double header against Liechtenstein and Spain have been made even tougher after it emerged that Manchester United midfielder and Scotland captain, Darren Fletcher, is suffering from tonsillitis.
Scotland remain hopeful he could travel to Liechtenstein but are also willing to let him make his own way to Spain if the player's latest illness clears up quickly.
The importance of Fletcher to the Scotland manager, Craig Levein, is highlighted by the 27-year-old's playing the full 180 minutes of last month's matches against the Czech Republic and Lithuania. Recovery from a debilitating - and as yet unexplained - virus meant Fletcher had not featured in the first team for Manchester United at that point of this season. Since those Scotland outings Fletcher has started four games for his club and has completed each of United's last three Premier League matches.
Scotland are already without Scott Brown for the two matches which will determine whether they earn a play-off place at the expense of the Czechs. A visit to a specialist has confirmed Brown faces up to 10 weeks on the sidelines, with the Celtic captain requiring surgery on a persistent ankle problem.
With Brown and possibly Fletcher missing, the chances of Aston Villa's Barry Bannan continuing his rise to prominence for club and country by starting at least one of the upcoming Scotland games has increased. Bannan outshone several of his more experienced international colleagues in last month's win over Lithuania and the 21-year-old has started four games for his club in the intervening period.
Kenny Miller looks like being a major doubt for the games too, and in his absence Brighton's Craig Mackail-Smith is Levein's most obvious alternative. "Craig is a bit similar to Kenny - he works very hard, is very, very quick and, more importantly, he is scoring goals and in very, very good form," said Peter Houston, the Scotland assistant manager.
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