Did you read Paul Lambert today? Jesus.
He seems to think the role of a friend is to tell you how brilliant you are all the time.
I’ve written on here before that the real friend is the one who tells you the truth, not just what strokes your ego.
How many of you watch X-Factor?
I love X-Factor, or at least I love the bit of it that comes before the actual singers are all picked and from that moment on it’s all about polishing them and teaching them the tricks to make them better.
I love the auditions.
I love watching people get up there and give it what the Americans call “the good old college try.” It’s great to see people enjoying themselves on the stage, knowing they aren’t going to make it, but scratching another item off the bucket list.
Some of them are plainly dreadful and they know it.
Others have somehow convinced themselves that they are better than they are.
But there are some who are so convinced that they are brilliant, that they are undiscovered superstars, that they actually get visibly upset when they are told they sound like what Billy Connolly once called “(geese) farting in the fog.”
Who told these people they were good?
This isn’t just about self-belief; there had to have been people around them who convinced them that they were talented and pushed their confidence into the stratosphere.
They had friends who listened to them and told them how brilliant they were.
Where do you think those friends were when they were being publicly eviscerated by Simon Cowell?
Certainly not standing by their side.
They were safe at home waiting for the highlights package so they and others could sit and snigger at the telly.
That’s what I thought about when I read Paul Lambert this morning, talking his nonsense about how friends should shut up if they have nothing good to say.
Tell that to those poor sods who walked off the stage at X-Factor in tears because they were mocked by the panel and the audience.
Most of them would have called their mates afterwards in fury, asking why they hadn’t told them not to do it.
How many do you think get told “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings!”
These “friends” think exposing you to ridicule is preferable to having someone close tell you a few home truths.
Lambert is a sycophantic clown.
His comments were absolutely ridiculous. Anybody who honestly wants to have friends who stroke their egos and lie to their faces deserves everything they get and if that’s Lennon then he’s made his own bed.
Lennon is fortunate that does have real friends, better ones than Lambert.
One of those is John Hartson.
Another is Chris Sutton.
Hartson broke ranks last week. This week it was Sutton’s turn, and he gave Lennon the advice this website urged over a month ago; tell the man to get out for his own good and the good of his reputation amongst the fans.
Lambert told Lennon that his legendary status with the fans is secure.
Really? Lambert was one of the best midfielders I ever saw play for the jersey, but I can’t stand the guy because he’s spent a lot of the time since pushing the Survival Lie and talking up the clubs at Ibrox.
Many of our fans feel the same way.
It is much easier to destroy a reputation than Lambert seems aware.
Lennon has already torched his in the eyes of a great many of our supporters.
Sutton understands that, and he knows that the toxicity surrounding Lennon and his role at the moment is only going to get worse.
If Lennon went now some of those who are presently furious at him would sigh in relief and thank him for falling on the sword. The longer this drags on though, the less forgiving folk will be.
Neither Sutton nor Hartson want to fill Lennon’s head with fluff.
They want him to confront the reality of where he and the club presently stand, and they are urging him to think of his future as well as that of Celtic. They aren’t doing that to cause Lennon problems, they know he’s already in trouble.
They are doing it to spare him any further hardship.
Sutton and Hartson care about Celtic too, of course.
I’m not sure who Lambert was speaking for, but reading him I had a weird feeling that he was trying to ingratiate himself with the club as well.
He ought not to waste his time.
On top of that, it would leave a bad taste in the mouth if he was using Lennon’s personal crisis to promote himself to Lennon’s bosses.
I would never accuse him of that, of course, because he is, after all, a “friend” to the manager and friends don’t do stuff like that, do they?
Sutton and Hartson are the real deal.
When Big Bad John spoke last week, Lennon shot back at him during that disastrous presser.
Now Sutton has joined him in asking Lennon to consider his position.
When two such good men are telling you the same thing, Neil, you should listen.