Champions League: Lennon Could Face the Axe After Celtic's 3-0 Defeat

Neil Lennon should start worrying about losing his dream job as Celtic manager after seeing his team all but crash out of the Champions league. The Glasgow club was embarrassed 3-0 by Portugal’s Sporting Braga, and if the game was any indication of the way the team will play this season, the Scottish FA might as well just hand the championship to Rangers.

Apart from the first ten minutes of the first half, Celtic never looked like it could threaten the northern Portuguese club. Samaras, who was singled out by Braga coach Domingos Paciencia as the Catholics' star-man, was never given enough room to run at defenders and was easily cancelled out by Moises. Meanwhile, club captain and resident hard-man, Scott Brown, proved too slow to compete with a Braga midfield that was led by Alan, the scorer of the first goal. The Scots looked visibly exhausted early into the second half, which should raise some questions about Lennon’s intense training regime.

On the other hand, Braga looked like at team that could do some damage against traditionally stronger opponents in the group stage of the competition. Surprisingly having finished second last season behind Benfica, the Arsenalistas, as they’re known in Portugal due to their Arsenal-like kits, look like they can compete with Portugal’s big three for this year’s league championship. It should definitely not be a shock to see the team reach the groups stages of the Champions League.

If Celtic is ousted from the Champions League, Lennon will most likely be the first major managerial casualty this year, and then all hell will break loose in Glasgow as the team administrators look under every rock for a more experienced manager.