Why Neil Lennon doesn’t bring it on himself
‘He brings it on himself,” or ‘Neil Lennon angrily reacted’ or other old favourites such as ‘Fuming hoops gaffer’ or ‘Snarling from the side’ are just a few of the phrases that are attributed to Neil Lennon almost every week since he became our boss.
Prior to that, similar quotes or headlines were often used about Neil as a player. Recently, not for the first time, Lennon was abused, he was spat at, he had fluid and objects thrown at him.
As a player, he was often booed at every away ground for almost every touch of the ball that he had.
Some teams have a player who is capable of turning a game on it’s head by scoring a 40 yard shot or by making what seems like an impossible pass. Other players can beat half of the opposition before scoring or laying on an unmissable chance for a team mate.
I can understand fans booing them or giving them a bit of abuse on the park, it’s an attempt to try and put them off.
Think to any one of the penalties given against Celtic in some big matches at Parkhead, as a fan, you do what you can to unnerve the opposition. At Champions League games, you often hear our crowd booing or whistling when the opposition has the ball.
It’s all designed to distract the opponent, that’s fine too. With some players, there’s a strong sense of dislike bordering on hatred. Two that spring to mind are Ronaldo playing against us for Manchester United and Neymar for Barcelona.
Both of those players are highly dangerous opponents and both can be knocked over by a gust of wind. Both can be perceived as attempting to cheat to gain an advantage for their team.
All of which, for me at least, is justifiable reason to dislike them during the game.
As much as most people tell me I’m wrong, I believe it’s purely down to the fact that he is a Catholic from Northern Ireland. It wasn’t that long ago that people in Scotland had to lie about their religion or place they went to school in order to secure a job.
The people who denied the Catholics a job and who hated them for no real reason are still around. These people produced and raised children so it’s reasonable to assume that their kids were raised with similar beliefs – not all of them obviously but some.
It’s this that leads me to believe that the hatred of Neil Lennon is purely down to bigotry.
Some people reading this might be asking what is the point of me writing this, well, I’ve lost count of the amount of times that people tell me that the hatred is nothing to do with religion and his background.
The same people who tell me this have never provided a valid reason for the hatred. The number of people who tell me they don’t like him despite having no valid reason or having never met the guy is a high number of people.
Some have said that the hatred might eventually drive him away from Scotland. If it was me, I reckon I’d have been gone a long time ago so it’s safe to say that our teams boss must be one of the most mentally strong people out there.
I guess sometimes that strong mindedness is both a good and bad thing. It’s bad in the way that certain players, when fit, tend to be a guaranteed starter in the team regardless of how well they are playing.
It also may dictate that the same tactics, formation etc will be used more often than they should be. Some matches, everyone in the stand seems to be unhappy with the style of play, the performance of certain players but that strong mindset or stubbornness, if you prefer, will ensure that changes will be made only when the gaffer says so.
Overall, I think that Neil Lennon being the type of guy he is has given us more good than bad as Celtic fans. Will any of us forget that night v Barcelona? What about the league win despite being 15 points behind at one point?
What about some of the wins against our dead, former rivals ?
I’d like to think that we will have Neil Lennon around as boss for a wee bit longer and I’d also like to think that some of the narrow minded folk in this country would stop believing everything they are told and make decisions for themselves.
I’ve never met Neil Lennon before but I’ve told that he’s a great guy. Anyone who seems to know him tell you the same thing too.
There really is something inside him so strong and to compare the current team to the one that he inherited, when you consider the players that have been sold, tells me that there’s also a good manager in there as well as a strong character.