Former Celtic boss and Neil Lennon’s former mentor, Martin O’Neill has branded the treatment of Neil Lennon as ‘shocking’ and would be perplexed if he had done what Neil has and still faced the criticism the Celtic manager deals with on a daily basis.
Anybody from the O’Neill era currently in the media eye are backing their former team-mate and putting the blame on players and the pandemic.
It’s frustrating for the fans who watch the club week in, week out being told our opinions are wrong by people from the past who watch Celtic from afar.
O’Neill has it right with one thing, if this wasn’t the ten in a row season, fans would be more patient, but, it is the ten in a row season and the supporters are seeing the dream slip away.
“If I had walked back into Celtic Park for a second spell after a manager had just left and there was a Treble Treble at stake, if I had delivered it and then stood on the cusp of delivering another one and he is just one game away from that, I would be asking myself: ‘Just where is this pressure coming from?'” O’Neill told RecordSport.
“It is shocking.
‘The pressure he is under right now is entirely unwarranted for the success that Celtic have had and the part he has played in that.
“Anyone can head onto social media and stick up a poll.
“I can have 25 people all agree with me and the percentages would look fantastic but is some of the vitriol that has been put in his direction really reflective of the majority?'”
“You can’t always be on top all of the time. Rangers were never going to stay in the doldrums forever – no matter what Celtic did or didn’t so.
At some point Rangers were always going to come out swinging and this is it.
“If this wasn’t a season that has so much at stake in terms of a tenth successive title I don’t think you would see this panic from the support.
“If this was a fourth title then I am sure they would be a bit more patience.
“Rangers have invested in the squad and they have backed their manager.
“In a way it is all good because this makes the league stronger.
“Now the challenge is for Celtic to show that they can cope with adversity. That they can cope with questions being asked of them and they can come out and show the same mentality that has made them the most successful side in the country for so long.”
The league is still retrievable but a large number of fans are yet to be convinced that Neil Lennon has the answers after seeing some very poor performances in Europe and in the last three Glasgow Derbies.
There’s little sign of improvement or a direction in which the club can build on. We’re stumbling along and if the wind doesn’t blow right soon, the ten in a row aspirations will be consigned to history.
