Neil Lennon urges Celtic fan patience during ‘transition’ period as he sends Ange Postecoglou backing

Neil Lennon has backed Ange Postecoglou to become a success at Celtic and insists now isn’t the time for ‘rash judgements’.

The former Celtic boss reckons his replacement deserves more opportunities to get things right despite crashing out of the Champions League at the first hurdle.

Supporters are backing the former Australia boss but they’re frustrated at a lack of backing from the board with Liel Abada the only new signing who played against Midtjylland.

Carl Starfelt and Kyogo Furuhashi had to isolate and missed both games but the Swedish defender is definitely available to face Hearts this weekend, and the Japenese frontman could be too.

But Lennon reckons now isn’t the time for quick statements and believes Postecoglou can’t be judged until the end of the transfer window at a minimum.

He told BBC Five Live: “I don’t think they were ready. Looking at the back four, they were very young in terms of the players they had at their disposal so I think Ange needs time.

“I don’t think you can judge him until the end of the transfer window and hopefully there will be a few players in that he would like in the positions he wants.

“There was a long protracted chase after one manager and that fell through. There were a lot of candidates for the job and the club went for Ange.

“It took him time to get over because of Covid and isolation and then it takes time for him to put his own stamp on things.

“They’ve spent money on the players, one is already in the building and scored last week and two are in self-isolation.

“There is a myriad of reasons as to why things have panned out so far but it’s way too early in the season to be making any rash statements or judgements.

“It’ll take another four or five weeks before that Celtic squad is settled and ready for the campaign ahead.”

Celtic have brought in three players but fans feel that the money received for the likes of Jeremie Frimpong or Kris Ajer over the last six months hasn’t been reinvested.

But Lennon insists fans need to remain patient with what is going and remember the club is in a transitional period given the exits of Peter Lawwell, himself and Scott Brown.

He added: “I don’t have the answer to where the rest of the money is but there are mitigating circumstances and Celtic were not immune to the financial loss clubs around Europe suffered.

“There’s a rebuilding job in process and Ange has got to front that up and I think to hit the ground can be an unrealistic expectation.

“The guy needs a bit of support and he’ll come good and over the next three or four weeks there will be business done to improve the squad because it definitely needs improved, we all know that.

“I don’t know if Ange will want to bring his own man or the club will appoint someone.

“There are people who are working in the background. A structure was put in place by Nick. Nick has now left the club but that structure remains intact and that’s why you see players coming in.

“There’s no doubt the Japanese player will have been Ange’s signing which is a positive and it’ll be interesting to see how he comes in and settles.

“In terms of going forward, there’s a void there that needs filled. Whether the club see it that way is another thing.

“They need a buffer between the board and the football side with Ange and that’s what Peter Lawwell did for so many years.

“You’ve got to remember the club is in a transition. I left, Peter left, Scott Brown left. The club is definitely in change and that doesn’t happen seamlessly, it takes time to reap the rewards.”

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