TURN UP THE HEAT

Neil Lennon extols the virtues of the Hoops’ mid-season training camp in Dubai, and now can’t wait to get back to competitive football

- JOE DONNELLY

THE average temperature at Celtic’s Lennoxtown training facility last week was a paltry eight degrees centigrade. At the club’s mid-season training camp in Dubai, on the other hand, it was an admirable 21° – perfect weather for high-intensity drills, focused tactical exercises and technical preparation ahead of the second half of the campaign.

After a gruelling nine-game December – within which the Scottish champions finished the decade top of the league, reached the last 32 of the Europa League as table-toppers, and returned the League Cup safely to the Paradise trophy cabinet – Neil Lennon’s players enjoyed a few days with family, before jetting off to the Middle East.

The winter break has served the Hoops well in their pursuit of silverware at the business end of the season in recent years, and the manager is determined to replicate that in 2020. And while keen to underscore the benefits of the camp from a football perspective, the Irishman equally hailed the social and morale gains the closeness of the regime affords.

“The players had five or six days off after the last match, which is a decent break after a busy run towards the end of last year,” said Neil Lennon in an exclusive interview with the Celtic View. “After that, we had them training very intensely at the mid-season training camp in Dubai, in very nice weather.

“Once we finished the sessions in the afternoon, after they’d put the hard work in, they had the chance to relax in a nice climate. Mentally and physically, that’s the best of both worlds and was very good for the squad as a whole.