NEIL LENNON is in survival mode when it comes to preserving his status as Celtic manager. The Irishman has lashed out at pundits who believe he should no longer be in charge at the club. It goes beyond that, he’s lashing out at former players and friends who are simply looking at things as objectively as they can.
Given the manager’s record this season, any one of his modern-day predecessors would have been kindly asked to leave the building by now. The likes of Chris Sutton, John Harton and Stan Petrov had been supportive of the manager to a fault in recent times. However, January and beyond, none of them could turn up for their media work and claim Neil Lennon was the right man for the job.
We saw all three say Neil Lennon had to step down for the best interests of the club, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.
However, Neil Lennon has chosen to have a go at these men for daring to say he should not be the Celtic manager any more.
He puts it down to some selling their soul for clicks.
“It’s not objective anymore. I think it’s more personal, people don’t see you or choose not to see you as a human being. The criticism is a lot harsher.” Neil tells the Glasgow Times.
“That’s why I’m a lot more guarded. I try not to give too much and sometimes I think I’m boring when I do press interviews as I don’t want to give too much away. Some people analyse everything that you say or are selective in their quotes and use it against you for later on.
“I’ve seen it with other people, peers of mine. Some court public opinion to get more followers or get more click bait and that type of stuff. These people have sold their soul a little bit.”
We can only imagine what kind of pressure and stress Neil Lennon is under and we have respect for the manager and his accomplishments over the years. Right now, the siege mentality adopted by Neil means any outside noise, from friends or otherwise is part of a self-serving agenda.
Neil Lennon has played pundit before and he knows if you want to be credible and continue to get work, you need to at least be honest. Had anyone else been the manager during this season, and Neil Lennon was a pundit, I have no doubt he would be calling for the manager’s head.
It won’t be easy for his friends to say it’s time for him to move on, they do it because they’re professional and Neil should not be taking it to heart.
I believe in the fullness of time when the dust has settled on this tumultuous season, we will see Neil Lennon soften his stance.
Sometimes we can’t see the wood for the trees.
