On Saturday Neil Lennon told Radio Scotland that he felt let down by the Celtic players.
The question was asked in the context of the season, not just the latest set-back, a home defeat from St Mirren.
Lennon had been asked about recruitment, the impact of players signed during 2020 and responded by questioning the impact of Leigh Griffiths and others who have been at the club ‘for a while’.
There were a number of headlines generated from his post-match interviews almost all questioning the players with little comment or analysis on Lennon’s performance or ability. Online the watching Celtic fans intensified their calls for the manager to be removed.
Forty-eight hours after appearing to cross a few lines with his criticism of the players Lennon was back in front of the media, talking up the players and referring to Saturday’s criticism as a jag. Who jags the manager isn’t known with all of the place for this season landing away from the dug-out according to the current incumbent.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Lennon said:
I’ve been pretty consistent with the way I’ve approached the job and the players since I came in. It’s very rarely I’ve lost my temper with them or hauled them over the coals.
Every now and then they’ve sort of needed a jag. I felt on Saturday they needed a jag and they got it. I don’t think I was too over the top. I gave my own impressions of how I felt about the performance.
I can’t hide away from that and I’m not going to. They need to show professional pride. They need to show personal pride now. As I said after the game, in any walk of life when things aren’t going well, you have to show your personal and individual feeling for what you’re doing. Rather than feel sorry for yourself, you have to dig deep and turn it around.
There are some players who have been off form. That can come back very quickly and we need to finish the season as strongly as we can. And we also have a cup to defend.
Whether the league is gone or not remains to be seen. But we have to play better and put far more wins together than we have done of late. And I think they have plenty of character and personality to actually respond in a positive way.
Lennon was given a 12-month rolling contract following the 2019 Scottish Cup Final, at the start of December the club announced that a managerial review would be carried out in the new year.