It has been a roller coaster of a week. From the disappointments of losing to the bottom club, Ross County, effectively inviting our rivals to take the trophy home from the boardroom on the 21st March, to Lennon insisting he would head the rebuild to where we find ourselves now. Lennon is gone and the club and the fans can look forward now.
I am not ashamed to say that I am disappointed at how this turned as sour as it did. I always feel I have tried to be fair and proportionate in my criticism of Lennon. In many ways, Lennon was at fault for this but the Celtic fans cannot, and will not, walk away from this with their credibility intact.
But I will get to that. For the last week I have been running a poll on the site and an astounding 10,430 fans took part. The poll simply asked “Should Neil be the Celtic Manager next season?”. An overall majority of 87% of the votes said “No” and that is of no surprise to me.
Should Roberto Martinez replace Neil Lennon?
YES
NO
From Lennon’s inane excuses in post match press conferences, to the inability to get the team to learn from basic defensive mistakes, this season has been as shambolic as a Shane Duffy clearance. Way back in October, Lennon said that if things hadn’t improved then he would look at his position. At that point Celtic were 6 points behind their rivals in the league, come the end of January, after the 2-1 home defeat by St Mirren, the Hoops lay a massive 23 points behind their Glasgow rivals, albeit with two games in hand, and Lennon was still insisting that he was the man for the job.
The complete lack of credibility by not sticking to his word was a source of irritation, but the Celtic fans, they could point to the many mistakes Lennon had made. Continually picking Duffy. Turnbull and Soro not introduced earlier. European results and the absolute capitulation in the league and I haven’t even mentioned Dubai!
Now to the fans. First off, let me say, I understand the viewpoint of the fans. I get that they have shelled out hundreds of pounds for season tickets and in return they got a less than reliable “virtual pass” to watch their heroes go for the infamous ten in a row. I get that not getting to the games meant that the fans felt that they could not voice their opinions and I also believe that if fans were allowed in the stadium then Lennon would not have lasted as long as he did. In fact, he would have been gone after Ross County knocked us out the league cup.
Make no mistake, Lennon is a club legend in mine and many supporters eyes. That will never change and it also should not be forgotten by the Celtic fans.
However, their actions during a global pandemic, and let’s not forget these are the very same fans that condemned Lennon for the Dubai trip, and their online vilification of the Celtic manager has left a bitter taste in my mouth and I genuinely hope that they self reflect on their part in this sorry episode. There is not only a rebuild to the team required next season, there is also a rebuild needed of the Celtic fans reputation as the best fans in the world.
Think you know your history and Celtic away strips? Take the quiz and see if you can guess the season these strips were worn. Invite friends and family to come and beat your score!