Source: team_talk
NL holds breath over celebration
Neil Lennon joked of his concern at Efe Ambrose's spectacular goal celebration in Celtic's 5-0 SPL demolition of St Mirren in Paisley.
After Gary Hooper had opened the scoring for the visitors a mistake by Buddies keeper Craig Samson allowed the 24-year-old Nigerian defender to notch for the first time since joining the Hoops in the summer and then thrilled the travelling fans with a series of back flips.
Midfielder Victor Wanyama grabbed a double before the break and striker Tony Watt scored with four minutes remaining to seal a victory which thrilled the Celtic boss ahead of their Champions League Group G clash with Barcelona on Tuesday night - although he was taken aback by the antics of the former Ashdod player.
He said: "My heart was in my mouth - I had never seen him do it before. "If he had landed on his neck he could have been in trouble but he has been a huge asset.
"He has had a brilliant introduction. Him and Wanyama were excellent and they will be very important on Tuesday.
"Technically, Wanyama is excellent, his all-round game is of a very high order at the minute.
"We have good athletes who can play football and I guess that is what you need in the modern game"
Indeed, a delighted Lennon was in the mood to lavish praise on all his players.
"Hooper, for me, is a great player," he said. "He is playing probably at his peak, not only does he score goals but his all-round play and intelligence is of a very high quality now.
"I am starting to run out of things to say about the boy but I just hope he takes that form into the game on Tuesday.
"I thought Tony Watt was fantastic as well, I really did.
"He was hungry, he is a wee bit raw but he has so many good attributes that he is a defenders' nightmare.
"He just wants to keep running them and wearing them down and I am delighted he got his goal.
"Lassad did really well, he is training well and starting to get used to the pace of the game here.
"We have good options now. With Joe Ledley and Beram Kayal back, the squad is looking very strong and vibrant."
Lennon made sure his side kept their focus at the interval despite the game being over as a contest.
He said: "I have been involved in games like this myself.
"You are playing at a tempo and a rhythm then you come in and cool down for 15 minutes and it is very difficult get back to that tempo again.
"I gave them a reminder as well, that Germany were four up after an hour (against Sweden) and ended up drawing 4-4.
"So I just wanted them to win the second-half, we were a wee bit sloppy at times but I understand that.
"But no criticism of the team at all today, I thought they were brilliant."
Saints boss Danny Lennon had little option but to admit his side were well beaten.
He said: "I've got to give Celtic a lot of credit, they were absolutely fantastic.
"The second goal seemed to drain the energy out of us and that is something you can't afford against a formidable team like Celtic.
"If you have a Celtic team firing on all cylinders and a St Mirren team firing on all cylinders then nine times out of 10 Celtic win.
"But when you have a Celtic side firing like that and us not firing, we deserved everything that we got."
