Articles

Neil Lennon: The Final Chapter. Celtic Must Show Ruthlessness To Protect Our Reputation.

|
Image for Neil Lennon: The Final Chapter. Celtic Must Show Ruthlessness To Protect Our Reputation.

This cannot continue. I mean, that’s plain, that’s obvious, that’s not really up for debate.

But I fear that it will.

I don’t believe anything happened today that was not entirely predictable, both to the fans and to those who have mismanaged this situation to the point we’re now in genuine crisis.

What variable is different than it was? The squandering of two more points?

No, as that’s the only thing to change I don’t think anything else is going to.

This board will keep faith with their man … they are the only people who still have any.

It seems obvious that this is the day the league campaign was finally surrendered.

Victory is still possible but I think it’s now unlikely bordering on fantastical.

The chance to change things was always going to be a very small window; it closed, firmly, when the board committed to giving Lennon until the New Year, in the arrogant belief that our “easy” December would give him room to breathe.

That is now in ashes. The whole season is in ashes.

The work has to start, right now, for the sake of the next campaign. Lennon should be relieved of his duties tonight, but I know people will ask what the point is. I’d point out the blindingly obvious; his presence in that dugout is now an embarrassment. His continuing involvement in this farce is an insult to all of us.

The campaign looks beyond salvaging.

This is about trying to rescue some modicum of our pride and our standards, and that demands his removal immediately although at this point it will do not one bit of good in terms of our overall position. His replacement with some short-term, end of season, option is inevitable.

I don’t even care who replaces him; the club needs to send out a clear message that these results aren’t acceptable or we are simply tolerating failure.

I blame Lawwell and Desmond for us being here tonight.

That goes without saying too.

The minute the full-time whistle blew at the end of the Sparta Prague game at home it should have been brought to a swift and brutal close. When we lost by the same result in Prague I said I would blame those two men for anything that followed.

The meek, pathetic, abject surrender of this title on the pitch is echoed by the meek, pathetic, abject surrender of it off the pitch. This board is responsible for the loss of the ten. Their legacy will be that of failure, and not just failure but a disastrous collapse in standards which they have permitted on their watch.

Peter Lawwell cannot remain at Parkhead beyond this campaign.

Any board taking a realist’s view of this would remove him and the manager with the same stroke of the pen. Desmond has allowed a bad situation to turn into an absolute car-crash, I don’t want to hear a word from him about his intentions or ambitions or his vision for Celtic.

To be frank, I do not believe he has one. He signed off on the hiring of a third tier managerial candidate and has reaped what he sowed. He too has been found out by this crisis.

I don’t want to hear anything from the manager tonight at all. Let him remain silent, rather than come out and fill our ears with the same drivel he’s been talking for months. There was no improvement in that performance today, no straw to cling to, nothing to build on.

I have zero sympathy for him at this point; I think he’s a selfish man, I think his ego has swollen to the point where he now puts himself before the club. His position was untenable a month ago, and he’s led us from one disaster to another.

He has driven us towards this and the only reason he’s hanging on is because this is the biggest job – perhaps the last job – he will ever have in management. He couldn’t give a damn what’s right for Celtic and he has no respect for the fans.

Lennon has squandered whatever goodwill he was entitled to.

His chance for a dignified exit is gone as well; for the sake of our reputaiton the club needs to fire him and say that.

I never held to the view, widely held by others, that he had “ridden to the rescue” after Rodgers left; we snatched him from the dole queue.

It was an offer beyond his wildest dreams, and well beyond his limited capabilities as a manager.

His hiring on 25 May 2019 was an unpardonable disgrace.

Those involved in that decision will get the damnation it deserves.

I only wish that the rest of us weren’t paying such a high price along with them.

Please read our article on our new Facebook strategy, and bookmark the sites mentioned in it.

Share this article