It Shouldn’t Be Neil Lennon ….
There was no point, other than that night against Barcelona, when I believed Neil Lennon was the right man to be sitting in the Celtic dugout.
People sometimes accuse me of being a hypocrite over Lennon; actually, my view on him has always been pretty plain and clear. I’ve never hidden my opinion that he was the wrong guy, an appointment which revealed our board at their very worst. Not just a cheap option, but one completely lacking in any imagination or vision whatsoever.
It played to the gallery but it was an enormous, illogical, un-necessary risk. The irony, of course, is that in some ways it actually paid off. But for those who’re interested in stats, there’s a good one doing the rounds right now; in his first two seasons as manager his domestic form was little better than that of the guy we just said was leaving, and overall I always thought Lennon underachieved. On the day he left, I was delighted and I wished him well.
And that’s partly where people get confused about how I feel, because whatever my doubts about him as a manager, I hero-worshiped Lennon as a person and an individual. When I published my first book three years ago, I dedicated it in part to Neil Lennon, the Man. I always respected him and I always will; Hell, I even loved him.
What he gave to this club, the courage he showed over his time here, the enormous pressure and hatred he had to endure … no-one could have handled it with more grace, more class or more courage. How can you not love that?
But Neil made mistakes in his time in charge, and whilst I do not for a second blame him for everything – how can you, when he had to deal with a downsizing strategy of breath-taking proportions? – he could have fought his corner better against what was going on above, and there were performances and even entire stretches of his seasons where we were rank and awful to watch. He came very close to losing his job completely that day at Kilmarnock and not one Celtic fan would have had any complaints if he had.
His last couple of seasons were phenomenally consistent domestically, except for in the cups where he couldn’t seem to close it. But he knew he was never going to get the chance to mould the team he believed he could. What happened to him in his final season, as he watched the team that beat Barcelona dismantled, sold for millions, none of which he saw, was disgraceful and should have been the point where all Celtic fans lost patience with The Strategy.
Yet Lennon can’t escape blame for that. He allowed it. He didn’t fight hard enough for the things he wanted and needed to get the job done.
There were very good, not all public, reasons why both Neil and Celtic felt the time to leave had been arrived at. The circumstances at Celtic Park haven’t changed one bit since the day he departed; the downsizing goes on, in a manner I’m sure he’d find as unacceptable as he did before. If the Strategy is changing (and there’s no sign that it is) I think we’re capable of attracting a much better, higher calibre, individual.
There’s also his failure in England. Neil didn’t attract the attention of any high profile club when he left. That suggests to me that he’s not rated down south, and his time at Bolton will not have changed anybody’s minds. I’m sure the Celtic job looks very nice to him right now, as he’s another unemployed manager who’s best years might be behind him.
Celtic was founded as a charity, but we don’t run as one. We’re looking for something more. The return of Lennon, the favourite son, might sit right with other people … but I think it would be a scandalous appointment and certain to end in disaster.
Yet there’s another name who would trouble me even more …