CHRIS SUTTON used his RecordSport column to pick over the bones of why Neil Lennon is still in charge and explain why his former teammate won’t walk away from the job.
However, it omits the fact that Neil Lennon once walked away from this job!
Sutton explains in his column he finds it hard to have a negative opinion on the Celtic boss because of their friendship. Sutton details Neil being there for him and his family back in the day when they were close to losing their newborn son.
It’s understandable from the BT Pundits point of view but there’s no room for sentiment at this point in time.
Chris does explain, if it was him, he would have walked by now to protect his Celtic legacy.
He then puts Neil Lennon’s stay down to stubbornness and being a fighter.
I put it down to ego.
Writing in his column, Sutton explained:
“If it was me, I would have walked to protect my legacy, but everybody has to make choices based on how they see them.
“In any industry, if you are under contract and believe you can still do the job competently, then you would fight on. Neil is doing that.
“He can’t let go, he doesn’t want to let go. Neil is his own person and as stubborn as a mule. He’s not for budging.
“It’s not even a 50-50 call amongst most fans now. Not even 90-10 in terms of backing. If he goes into next season, how much latitude would he have? Virtually none.
“That will hurt. That will kill him inside. The club he’s devoted nearly half his life to he doesn’t want to give it up. I get that, we would all feel this way, would we not?
“When Neil walks out of the door this time, it will be for the last time in an official capacity. That will also hurt.
“Whether you feel he could save it or think he is doing an awful job and it’s beyond him, you cannot say he is not committed to the club.
It’s why what happens next at Celtic is not down to him. It’s down to the directors, the people in charge.
If they still believe in Neil, say so. I suspect they don’t have the faith in John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan to run it or they’d probably be doing so by now with the hunt underway for a new boss.
Quite simply, if Celtic’s chiefs want a change, it’s up to them to make it. It’s not up to Neil to go.
Neil Lennon is clinging to his job but the board are giving him every reason to do so.
The game should have been up long ago. The writing on the wall has been there for some time. We need brave, bold decisions, not a board who are cowering inside the stadium hoping we’ll all just go quiet.
By the writing being on the wall for some time, I take it you mean half a season?
My recollection is at the end of last season, for what it was, the chant from the Celtic support was ‘There’s Only One Neil LENNON’, let’s not forget ourselves!
Players like Big Eddie lapped up having fifty odd Celtic supporters chanting his name with the Stone Roses classic I Wanna Be Adored, but he’s obviously not so keen playing in the pelting rain in an empty CPand he’s not the only one, let’s be honest and Lenny has little control over that.
Lennon’s time is up, but let’s not let the want for change turn into some kind of bitterness and in some cases I’ve read, not from yourself, some kind of form of hatred to a guy whose given a major chunk of his professional career to the club he obviously lives and breaths.
He’s not Brendan Rodgers, we knew that, Laxalt ain’t KT, he’s Neil Francis Lennon.
He deserves better