Neil Lennon gets it, he knows that it comes with the territory and he understands the frustration among the support that this season has gone horribly wrong with the chance to make history and win a tenth straight title all but gone. It clearly means a great deal to every Celtic supporter but out with the Glasgow football bubble in means very little to anyone else with an interest in the game.
For some the real problem isn’t that theRangers are about to win their first ever title, it’s more to do with the fact that they are actually claiming that it’s 55 – and watch for their summer merchandising push having 55 as the prominent feature.
Last season, when the league ended early due to the Covid-19 crisis, the Ibrox fans were all claiming that Celtic hadn’t won 9 in a Row, they were calling it 8 and 3/4s. Yet as David Potter pointed out on the comments section on The Celtic Star article last night on the 55 Lie, the old Rangers actually SHARED a title with Dumbarton and are including that in the old clubs 54 title wins. Surely even by their own logic that club only won 53 and a half titles?
READ THIS…Shock for Asterisk Johnston, It’s not 54, but 53 and a half – Historian David Potter explains
Our article from last night is well worth a read and it highlights the failure of the SFPL and indeed Celtic to make sure that the position was accurately stated in 2012 when Charles Green formed a club after buying the assets from the Rangers FC Administrations and began life in the old 3rd Division.
You will also recall that they lost their EBT Tax case at the Supreme Court meaning that the titles won when that unlawful scheme was in play should have been stripped from them. That takes the 53 and a half down into the forties. Neil Lennon should factor this into his calculations when trying to understand why there is so much anger out there among the support. He can read about it below.
READ THIS…Celtic and The Big 55 Lie – Can Scottish Football Survive Long Term Without Probity?
“I don’t think it’s unfair or unrealistic but we have had mitigating circumstances throughout the course of the campaign, some of which I can’t divulge publicly,” the Celtic manager said yesterday at his Mainstream Media conference when asked if he understands the fans anger and the calls for him to be sacked given the way this season has gone. “But I’ve never shied away from the fact that it’s been massively disappointing and we could and should have performed better. That’s on me, my staff and the football department as well,” Lennon admitted at his Mainstream Media Conference yesterday.
🎙️ Neil Lennon previews tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership encounter with Aberdeen.#CELABE Media Conference available on YouTube now 🟢
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) February 16, 2021
“The ten was the Holy Grail, really, and it may be beyond us but we won’t give it up just yet,” Lennon added. We could and probably should add a sentence or two about the refereeing decisions this season that seem to continually favour a club that never seem to have a player sent off (despite their best efforts to see red) and never concede a penalty kick – Hibs for example have been denied three stonewallers against them in two games.
“I have to prove myself every day,” Lennon said. “I’ve had to prove myself ever since I walked through the door for that second time. It’s been like pushing water uphill, trying to convince some people,” he added. He couldn’t really say that he was only in the job because of the behind the scenes wrangling between Celtic CEO Peter Lawwell and an elite football manager which ended in Brendan Rodgers leaving for Leicester City, getting called a ‘Rat’ and a ‘Snake’ by the same supporters now on Lennon’s case every day on social media and Lawwell laughing all the way to the bank to cash the £8m compensation cheque he picked up from the English Premier League side in the process. Lawwell regarded that as a major victory but Celtic are paying the price this season – anyone got any idea how Rodgers is getting on at Leicester?
“But without trophies, we haven’t had a good season this year. If that’s enough for people to want me out, that’s fine – I can take that and understand it,” Lennon continued. “What I want from the end of the season, though, is for us to win games for the last couple of months. I want a really strong finish, to let the players blossom, play their football, enjoy what they’re doing and see where that takes us.”
Will he ever be able to convince some supporters that he is the right man for the job? “I don’t know but that’s the nature of the job: it’s not a popularity contest. It’s about playing good football and winning, bringing players to the club, developing them and selling them on, which is what I’ve done over the piece.”
It’s not Lennon’s fault that he’s not Brendan Rodgers nor is it his fault that his fellow Irishman is these days the manager of Leicester City. The blame for that lies further up the food chain at Celtic Park.
Here is Neil Lennon’s Mainstream Media Conference from yesterday.
