Ok, I’m putting it out there. Going to Dubai, in my eye’s, was perfectly ok. Legally, the club broke no rules. They sought advice before going, the Government knew they were going as did the Scottish Football authorities and lets not kid ourselves, so did the fans. Dubai was a sasfe travel zone at the time of travel and I never heard one dissenting voice from any fan when this trip was announced. I did, however, see many fans looking forward to Celtic’s trip to Dubai because “it has worked before”, mainly in reference to how the team performed in recent seasons after a trip to the warm weather camp.
Now, morally, it was misjudged. Taking a long haul flight in the midst of a global pandemic was not the best idea and for that, Lennon should have started his press conference with “Sorry, we got that wrong”. I am sure that if began like that people would have taken more notice to some pertinent points he made during his conference. Instead, he just got angrier and angrier and ended up embarrassing himself and the club.
Here is where I think Lennon made some pertinent points:
Point 1
“We weren’t doing a 20 man conga which was lauded by all and sundry because Scotland qualified for The Euros”
It seems strange to me that at the time, the Scottish celebrations after qualifying for Euro 2020 were not condemned by the press or the Scottish Government. Here we had over 25 players and staff all from different clubs and parts of the country, failing spectacularly to follow any semblance of social distancing, but this was deemed okay because we had qualified for our first major tournament in over 22 years. The Scottish Government and press condemnation of that event was so quiet, it was deafening.
Point 2
Calling out the media for the treatment of the club. I am absolutely 100% with Lennon on this, except and as much as I dislike Andy Walker’s consistent Celtic bashing, taking the fight to Walker and Sky Sports is completely wrong. Celtic players and the club have been the subject to a torrent of nonsense from the media. Young Frimpong’s sexuality was openly questioned by a tabloid newspaper after his ex revealed he wouldn’t spend £500 on an accessory for her and Lennon and the club said zilch. The Glasgow Times retracted a story using derogatory term to describe Lennon less than 48 hours ago and still they said nothing. There are many examples of the Scottish press going after the club and players but they say nothing, but they choose to speak up against Walker? For me, that was a daft battle to take on.
Point 3
“British athletics were out there, Zenit St Petersburg are out there now, it wasn’t just exclusive to Celtic going out there. Other clubs use the facility as well because it’s world class.” Not long after Celtic returned from Dubai, Spartak Moscow, also headed to the training camp after aiming a cheeky tweet at the Hoops and they also failed to comply with social distancing rules openly hugging and shaking each others hands in the departure lounge. No outrage. No calling for heads. Nothing.
Point 4
“Boxing Day at Hamilton there was no social distancing there, there was no physical distancing. It is inconsistent. Protocols of different clubs are inconsistent. We go to St Johnstone all crammed into a little dressing room. Inconsistent.” If true, and only Lennon and the players can confirm this, then again, he has another great point. The 2m social distancing rule simply cannot be followed if the space at opposing teams changing facilities does not allow it. So what do the Government have to say about that? The mistake Lennon made here was naming clubs. It looks like he has took the “If I’m going down, I’m taking all you with me route”, which is unprofessional and only creates animosity at a time where the club needs friends.
Point 5
“On the plane they were saying you had to isolate if you were two seats forward or two seats back, which wasn’t the case. We were told it was three metres”
If this is in fact the case, when had the rules for plane travel changed and if they had changed, why was Lennon and the squad not made aware of the changes?
Look, a lot of what Lennon said in that interview sounded like the ramblings of someone fighting his corner and there was some stupid comments he made that even the most ardent Lennon supporter would have thought to themselves “What the hell are you talking about?”. He has let himself down and the club by approaching the conference as he did.
Lennon should have shown contrition and then offered his side of the story calmly, professionally and took a minute to collect his thoughts before answering questions to offer balance to the barrage of negative press the club has received. He chose not to and he may pay the ultimate price for that.