Dealing with difficult problems always requires that those who have to do the work face up to reality in full, that they look it in the face and don’t flinch.
Reality is the toughest thing to face because it sometimes comes into conflict with our hopes, dreams and ambitions.
Denial is safe, cocooned, a comfortable place to reside for a while.
There are a lot of people in our support this morning who think that if only the board would speak out and tell us what their intentions are for the manager, one way or another, that we could heal the whole club by bringing clarity to this situation.
In truth, this situation is already pretty clear.
The reality is that this club is not functioning as it should, and that the rot started at the top. The board takes the blame for an appalling managerial decision which the club is now living with. Nevertheless, the only people with the power to do anything about this are those same board members.
Much of the fan-base has made up its mind, and no announcement from Celtic Park that the manager will be here until the end of this dreadful campaign is going to suddenly change that. Indeed, that would be like pouring petrol on the flames.
I understand why some people want to cling to the notion that announcing that they’re standing by their man would bring closure to this, and that it would act as a catharsis, but that simply does not reflect reality.
I believe the manager has lost the support of most of the fans.
I believe he’s lost the dressing room, and if he hasn’t yet he soon will with the way he’s turned on his players.
So at this point, the board offering him their full support until the end of the season can probably only do more harm than good.
Whatever divisions exist within the management team would remain.
Whatever divisions exist in the dressing room would still be there.
The anger amidst the supporters would not have gone away, and for many would be multiplied tenfold.
There is no magic spell that will make all this go away. What is needed now is for our board of directors to recognise where we are and what this is and to do what is required of them, to do what they are mandated to do as the custodians of this institution.
The only effective remedy to this is a dramatic course correction which, if he proves unwilling to go voluntarily, in a last great act of sacrifice for the club, will, alas, involve removing Neil Lennon from his post by dismissal.
Nothing else is going to fix this mess.
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