This season may well be Glenn Loovens’ last chance to make a career out of defending in a Celtic jersey.

After knocking back an offer from the Dark Side to join the club from Cardiff City in August 2008 Loovens looked to be the answer to our problematic centre back position.

His early form suggested he’d be was a good acquisition but a serious of injuries saw him flirt in and out of the side. When he did play, Glenn seemed to be more comfortable in the opponents box than his own.

For such a big guy, 6′ 2″ he is too easily pushed off the ball, who can forget his nightmare at the Bigotdome two seasons ago under Tony Mowbray?

Even last season things didn’t get any better, spending a long time in the wilderness after more shocking displays, namely against the Govan Mob and St Johnstone.

Glenn did manage to work his way back into the side at the end of last term mainly due to lack of numbers and in fairness to the guy helped us win the Scottish Cup.

He is in the main a liability and will find himself either back in the stands or on his way out of the club in this his last year of his contract.

Anything else will be down to sheer luck….

Although nothing has yet been mentioned in the mainstream media, they’re too busy having a go at Lenny, a couple of things have happened over the past week or so to suggest Stephen McManus COULD be on his way back to Celtic.

For a start, the family have just acquired a new home in the Bothwell area, something that wouldn’t be practical if Mick was staying down at Boro and only yesterday former Celtic manager Tony Mowbray hinted that the higher earners, a category McManus falls into, would have to be moved on during the summer.

Back to Celtic?

Well few clubs would be able to afford anything like the money the big defender is on down south and Celtic have been caught short in the centre of defence on a number of occasions this season.

Mick for Celtic…..mibees aye, mibees naw!

Cast your mind back twelve months or so. At that point Celtic under Tony Mowbray’s guidance were almost in free fall.

There was a real malaise about the club.

Attendances were dropping and the support were bickering amongst ourselves about which way the club was going. Some in Tony’s camp, others not.

But it wasn’t just the management that weren’t doing their stuff. The Bhoys on the park were letting everyone done, big time. Players that had been through SPL winning campaigns were just going through the motions.

It took a dramatic 4-0 drubbing by St Mirren, of all teams, to bring it all to a head. Change had to happen.

The board relieved Tony and his backroom staff of their duties (on gardening leave) and appointed Neil Lennon to take charge of the first team on a temporary basis.

Without turning this into a history lesson, Lenny had to make do with the players he inherited. Somehow he managed to galvanise the team to an unbeaten SPL run, including an OF win, until the end of the season.

Celtic had arguably TWO main playing assets left at the club. Aiden McGeady and Artur Boruc. Both were subsequently sold during the summer.

Fast forward to February 2011.

Under Lenny’s guidance, the current Celtic side has many, too many to mention, valuable playing assets. Recognition of how far we’ve come in such as short space of time is the continuous media speculation of players leaving to join ‘bigger’ clubs.

Keeping the ‘wolf from the door’ is one job Lenny will enjoy, because that will mean he’s the manager of a successful Celtic. Something we all wish for!

For the last few weeks all the media attention has focused on Neil Lennon’s sideline enthusiasm. It has become something of an obsession amongst the hacks.

Every man and his dug have been invited to give their opinion on Lenny.

Most of course spouting the fact that he’s a new manager, will have to curb his enthusiam and settle down or he’ll be in trouble. In other words Lenny should ‘get back in his box.’

In fact St Mirren manager Danny Lennon took the time today to give Neil some advice!

Well I’m pleased to say the Neil Lennon won’t change his ways to suit anyone. And why should he?

Sure it was only nine months ago we were being told that the Celtic manager should show more on the touchline. Tony Mowbray was too quiet for the very same people Lenny’s too loud for!

Or is it all just an excuse to cause Celtic as much disruption as possible?

Tell me, what would you prefer?

While we’re waiting on Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond making Neil Lennon’s appointment official we have to ask ourselves what do we  really want from our managers?

The reason for asking follows a conversation I had last night with one of my pals Charlie.

We were discussing who should get the Celtic job over a pint or two.  As I’m firmly in the Lenny camp, I suggested appointing Neil right away. Although Charlie doesn’t have anyone specific in mind he reckons that Lenny’s not ready…..yet.

Of course the subject of the last eight SPL games came into play. Charlie somehow thinks that these games were no more than friendlies as there was nothing to play for. His words not mine.

I then pointed out to him that the Derby game was by no means a friendly and that Murderwell, Hibs and Dundee United were all playing for a European place.

This didn’t get much approval. So we agreed to disagree.

But the whole conversation got me thinking.

Remember when WGS was manager? After some abject performances he would duly tell us on TV that the game was great and his players were the same. Of course that didn’t wear with the Faithful.

Nope. The support demanded the manager tell the truth and stop trying to pull the wool over our eyes.

Enter Tony Mowbray. After winning 2-0 at St Mirren, Mogga publicly slated his players and told the fans the performance wasn’t good enough.

What happened then? the whole of Timdom was up in arms. How dare he publicly slag off his players, they cried!

So, on the one hand we want honesty, and on the other we don’t want to hear what the manager has to say.

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t!

It will come as no surprise to many that the same board who appointed Tony Mowbray as manager on June 16th 2009 decided his time was up by sacking him today.

Tony’s record of winning just 51% of the games he was in charge of, and falling ten points behind Rankers wasn’t good enough.

Personally, I thought he’d get it right given time, but last night’s showing in Paisley was enough. Sadly, the players he brought in to change our fortunes simply haven’t been good enough.

Sure Tony’s a nice guy, and we wish him, Peter Grant and Mark Venus well, but something had to be done, and the board have acted by appointing former captain Neil Lennon as caretaker manager until the end of the season.

Let’s hope Lenny enjoys a bit more luck than The Huddlemeister did.

They say that decisions even themselves out over the course of the season, unless your the MM, they just get them all the time.

Well, if that’s the case then Celtic deserved the penalty we were awarded at paradise yesterday when MAF was upended by the Saints goalie on 67 minutes, although I failed to see how the keeper Graeme Smith escaped even a yellow card.

The resultant penalty was the best ever penalty-kick taken at Celtic Park since penalties were invented. (Well mibbee no, but it was perfectly executed by Robbie Keane!)

Penalty aside, the game was also notable for the performance of young Paul McGowan. The wee Celt earned his man of the match award with a busy display that could also have seen him net a couple of times…and he was the most kicked player on the park. A decent referee would have sent at least one St Johnstone player off for the treatment they dished out to Gowser.

But where do you find one of them?

The game also marked three consecutive clean sheets, at Falkirk, Kilmarnock and yesterday. Not bad for a patch work defence.

Another highlight for me was the passing of Dave, (or Rodney). He was pinging balls all over the pitch with so much ease, all he needs is the right partner in the middle of the park to win the ball and give it to him.

He looks the real deal to me.

OK, were not where we want to be in the SPL title race, that’s a given.

But does that mean we don’t get behind the team and the manager?

I don’t think so.

We all want to finish the season on a high, with as many points on the board as possible and the Scottish Cup in the trophy room.

So, we all have a part to play. The players, the manager and of course, us, the fans.

It’s time’s like this that the true character of the club comes to the fore. There have been a lot worse times than this.

Let’s enjoy supporting this fabulous club. Let’s enjoy it for what it is.

Would you really want to support anyone else?

And he doesn’t even play for us anymore!

Not content at getting a fresh start after played for his boyhood heroes, Scott McDonald has to keep nagging on about Mogga.

Why?

It didn’t get him far while he was at Celtic Park, so why does he keep bashing his gums about Tony Mowbray.

You would think he’d be more interested in kick-starting his Middlesbro career!

Maybe it’s because he’s a McDonald thing……

You see, there is ‘another’ McDonald that seems hell bent in putting the boot into the Hoops…….Dougie.

Remember him, the same Dougie that sent-off Aiden at Easter Road, Broonie at the Hunnery, let Madjik Boogera kick ten shades of shite out of Robbie Keane,  and managed to ‘award’ the MM TWO soft penalties against Dundee United.

The two of them should get together and go on the circuit, in fact, maybe they could get Tam Cowan to join them, after all those three seem to be cut from the same cloth!

PS. Notice the stories coming out of Celtic Park have stopped…..now there’s a coincidence!

It was almost like a prophecy.

At the start of the Festival of St Patrick, Robbie Keane, son of Erin, bangs in three glorious goals to dump Tango and Sash out of the Scottish Cup.

The Republic of Ireland captain scored three times in a second half canter that put his ‘bhoyhood’ heroes into the semi-finals.

Then in the afternoon, the Irish rugby fellows dispatched another Celtic nation Wales 27-12 at Croke Park to mark captain Brian O’Driscoll’s 100th cap for his country.

Hopefully the good fortune will continue when Dundee United formerly Dundee Hibernian, go to the Hunnery for today’s Scottish Cup tie.

Referee’s permitting, the Arabs could well knock Scotland’s Shame out the cup and give us even more reason to have a pint of the black stuff!