Neil Lennon will not be pleased to hear any treble talk from his players. Lennon is not taking anything for granted despite still being two points clear of Rangers at the top of the SPL ahead of tomorrow's home game against Dundee United. Celtic eased past Peterhead in their William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round tie at last week and they face Falkirk in the Scottish Communities League Cup semi-final at Hampden at the end of the month. The manager was at Celtic Park today to pick up his manager of the month award for December, with midfielder Victor Wanyama collecting the young player of the month award.
Asked if he had told his players to leave out any talk of a treble, he replied: "Absolutely. You know what it's like. The build-up, the build-up and build-up and one bad day and it's gone. I have already said the treble is an almost impossible thing to do so I don't want any talk of that. There is no point in talking about it at the minute. The longer it goes on the more people will ask us the question but players have to dismiss that and concentrate on the job in hand. Teams have take points off us already this season and anything can happen on any given day. So it is important not to take our eye off the ball and take each games as it comes. I know it is an old cliché but we can't get too far ahead of ourselves."
When discussing his award, Lennon was quick to praise his players. He said: "It is a testament to the team and the consistency they have shown. I am pleased with what we have shown and I think there is motivation to keep things going. The confidence is there which comes from winning games. I was confident in them (earlier in the season) but for varying reasons we weren't playing well but I've found that they are more settled now. December was a big month but January is a big month as well. Dundee United are a dangerous team so we have to keep our focus."
Lennon is still trying to strengthen his squad and revealed that he has extended the trial period for Nigerian midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim and Icelandic winger Ingolfur Sigurdsson. He said: "We are just having a look and they will be here for another couple of days. But we have been impressed by both of them."
Despite looking for players that will improve his squad, Lennon admits he is "bored" with the transfer window. He said: "I don't like it. I think we should go back to having an open market throughout the season. You have to do all your business in a short period of time and it is very difficult to do that at times. I get bored with it. I get bored answering the same repetitive questions, speculating on players coming in and going out and I can only reiterate that I don't want to sell any of my players and if I can add one or two to my squad then I will try and do that. But January is a difficult time, clubs want to hold on to their better players and negotiations can be difficult. But we are still looking. If there is a player who can make us better we will look at it."
Lennon does not expect to see Efrain Juarez back at the club this month despite reports he is set to end his time at Real Zaragoza. The midfielder moved to the Spanish club on loan at the start of the season. Lennon said: "I am not aware of that. He is on a year-long loan so I would expect Zaragoza to adhere to that, unless we are told differently. I know there has been a change of coach there but I have no contact from Juarez or his agent, so it's as you were, really."