Lennon satisfies Celtic fans with his press conference
Does it matter if he doesn’t please others?
Before the Celtic v Rangers games at Parkhead last month, Neil Lennon talked of the high of the highs and the low of the lows associated with that game. The past few days will have given Neil Lennon experience in the highs and lows away from Rangers games.
Last Saturday was a day when Celtic rewrote the SPL record books with a 9-0 league victory over Aberdeen. In the past year, the Scottish media have managed to minimise the pre-SPL days from the history books in their desire to place Kris Boyd above Henrik Larsson. Therefore, using this logic, Celtic’s victory over Aberdeen should have been the biggest story for years.
It wasn’t, well, not for BBC Sportscene, who spent no time in the post-match analysis talking about Celtic’s performance. The highest margin of victory in the SPL and the BBC deem it not being worthy of a single mention…and then Neil Lennon gets criticised when he suggests that the media did not deliver the praise that was deserved of that win!
Media viewpoints aside, the home win versus Aberdeen was a major highlight for Neil Lennon but the low was to come at Tynecastle on Wednesday.
Celtic never started at all and it would be fair to criticise the formation and changes that Neil Lennon made to his team. Every manager can misread a game and get it wrong and with Lennon being a young manager; it’s only to be expected.
The lack of change of formation or style during the match was a concern but sometimes you get nights where things don’t work. Especially at Tynecastle when the home fans are pumping up the animosity to dangerous levels and their players respond with an up-tempo, pressured and ultimately deserving of victory performance.
Lennon was sent off for protesting yet another honest mistake from the SFA, this time with neither Craig Thomson or his stand side assistant deeming that Celtic were due a penalty for handball. With so many handball incidents against Celtic in recent games Dundee United, Aberdeen and Hearts, we would not be surprised to learn Celtic were arranging a friendly against the Scottish Rocks basketball team.
Lennon was sent to the stand for his protest against the non-decision and will serve a suspension of at least two games. It may be more if Craig Thomson deemed Neil Lennon of any further misconduct. The manager may be worrying about the possibility of Thomson and the SFA deciding he is deserving of a further ban.
A mixture of good and bad for Lennon and when he entered the press conference today, he made it very clear he would not be talking about Wednesday night, referees or poppies. This didn’t stop the press pack gnawing away at Lennon to push for opinions on referees and Wednesday night but the young manager handled himself well in this situation. The media are doing their job so we’re not overly criticising them but it’s hard to see where the criticism of Lennon today came from.
Within minutes of the press conference ending, Herald writer and St Mirren fan (a proper one unlike some of the others you find in the meedja) Grame McPherson was tweeting about Lennon’s prickliness. Soon after, t’internet was ablaze once again with “whats Lennon’s problem” and “same old Celtic, always moaning!”
As Neil Lennon pointed out during his conference, many managers get sent to the stand, many managers make comments about the refs but few get criticism in the manner that Lennon does.
When Lennon was a player, he took dogs abuse from stadiums all over Scotland, which led Derek Johnstone to defend those who booed him by saying it was a compliment as he “was a smashing player”. Given the constant criticism Lennon’s management style has came under, it’s unlikely his current detractors think Lennon “is a smashing manager”.
Then again, when has logic ever come into deciding what football personalities to dislike? Again, as Lennon said, you’ll have to ask the people who target him for their reasons….his words and actions today were not any worse than what you see from managers’ press conferences week in, week out.
And at least Neil Lennon was out in the open with his opinions today, could you imagine the remarks if Lennon assembled a few specially selected scribes to hear his “withering” remarks about the SFA and his city rivals?
We have no real problems with Graeme Spiers, he seems to be able of annoying both Celtic and Rangers fans with ease, and he was one of the few sane heads to remark about the poppy debate. However Graeme, its best not to tweet than to tweet and then delete.
Still, he’s new in the tweeting game, we’re more than happy to give him the benefit the doubt and allow him to make mistakes. There is no chance of some people allowing that same deal of respect to a fledgling manager…
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He’s a whiner.
The jobs simply too big for him and it will all end in tears. There’s nothing wrong with passion, but Lennon needs to realise quickly that his actions and behaviours will and in fact are, rubbing off on his players. Ledley’s lunge and subsequent backing of it serves no one any purpose. Time for him to take a deep breath, perhaps sit in the stand for parts of the game and concentrate on matters on the pitch that he can have a positive influence over.
I also have to question the remark about Hearts fans pumping up the animosity to dangerous levels? What about those poor suffering Celtic fans who were attacked by the police on THREE separate occasions with CS Gas, the very same poor souls who ransacked the refreshment stalls and used every item available to attack those nasty polis. Bit of balance in your report please?
Quagmire,
You are ‘up to your knees’ in your own mess. Be quiet.
Lennon isn’t doing too “badly” for a job being bigger than him, only one point behind Walter.
And ‘bit of balance’ nothing Quagmire – no mention was made of any crowd disturbances…because without the full story (which you clearly don’t have either) – its only agenda building. In the second half, there was a flurry of coins from the Celtic end to the Hearts end. In the first half, potatoes were thrown by Hearts fans onto the pitch and into the Celtic end. See, thats balanced reporting, not your one sided complaint!!
The remark about the Hearts fans was about the atmosphere and having the players pumped up to high-do…which worked for them. If you are looking to take it further and see that as ‘Hearts fans bad / Celtic fans good’ well, it says a lot more about you than the report.
Oh touched a nerve have we?
Albert – Plenty of people have their say on Rangers and their fans indiscretions, am I not allowed my tuppence worth? Or is it more ‘sweep sweep’ when it concerns the greatest fans in the world?
Ed – I was taking my lead from a story printed in the national press – Here’s the story (in case you missed it) from the Edinburgh Evening News.
Police use CS gas as fans clash after Hearts beat Celtic
Published Date: 12 November 2010
By MARK McLAUGHLIN
POLICE had to use CS gas to break up violent clashes as trouble broke out following Hearts’ victory over Celtic at Tynecastle.
Clashes flared among the Celtic fans before, during and after Wednesday’s game, although there were only two arrests and five supporters ejected from the ground.
The CS gas was used to disperse violent fans on Russell Road, where away fans’ buses park, and McLeod Street on the approach to the Roseburn Stand, where Celtic’s 3500 fans were seated during the game.
Celtic fans were also heard chanting anti-poppy songs, just days after a section of their support was slammed for unfurling a banner demanding the removal of the “bloodstained poppy” from their team’s shirts.
Some Celtic fans were also said to have taunted the home support with The Starry Plough flag, a symbol of Irish republicanism famously flown during the Easter Rising against Britain in 1916.
A police spokesman said: “Inquiries are under way following disturbances that took place at the Hearts v Celtic match at Tynecastle.
“Police were required to deal with a number of incidents of disorder before, during and after the game, and on two occasions officers used CS spray to quell violence and ensure public safety.
“There were two arrests last night, both of which took place within Tynecastle, and in addition there were five ejections from the stadium. There were numerous incidents of disorder.
“Inquiries are under way in order to identify those responsible for the disorder, and anyone who has any information that can assist should contact Lothian and Borders Police.”
Trouble flared on the pitch as well as off it, with Celtic manager Neil Lennon facing disciplinary action from the SFA for squaring up to the fourth official and being sent to the stands, shortly after his midfielder Joe Ledley was sent off for a dangerous lunging tackle on Hearts’ Ian Black.
A Celtic spokesman said the club would “fully investigate” all of the reports of violence outside the stadium and would be liaising closely with police on the matter.
He added: “We will take the strongest action against anyone who is identified.”
The spokesman also addressed the problem of anti-poppy sentiments being expressed at games.
Probably that infamous Mexican supporter of yours though
‘Juan Ghuy’
Juan Ghuy strikes again!
Aaah the Edinburgh Evening News – the last bastion of truth in a harsh world…..or lining for the cat-tray.
As its an Edinburgh paper and as its part of the Scotsman group, and therefore no doubt shares its agendas, you would expect nothing less but even then, surely you would have to say that was far more biased than anything that has ended up on this site (which is not a compliment to this site, just saying how inbred the Edinburgh Evening News is (having spent a lot of time in the capital, it fair to say the EEN is consistently this nonsensical)).
Okay – two arrests and five ejections – you will note that no mention was made of what club? Could be all Celtic, could be all Hearts, could be a mix.
Waving a flag – Obviously this was an excuse the Rangers fans used for going radge in Romania and Australia but are we seriously living in a time when people are getting worked up over flags…not banners / messages / slogan…..but flags? And of course, if waving flag is enough to incite trouble, its lucky that only one set of fans waved flag at the other isn’t it? !!!
As for the poppy chants from the Celtic end…yeah….however, the EEN would have been better going after the more questionable songs from the Celtic support. And for balance, they could have mentioned the chants from the Hearts end which were not that nice either.
So there you go, a whole heap of pish from the EEN which in omitting so much of the story – and failing to give any basis to the events or evidence of all the incidents actually occurring – pretty much renders its null and avoid apart except to avid Jambos and those who enjoy Celtic getting criticised (the first group is perfectly contained within the second group!)
Also Quags, the article says TWO CS spray incidents…where are you getting THREE from….you using that CS Spray calculator again?
As for the Juan Ghuy bit – haha, any Celtic or Rangers fan that attempts to cast up the other side with this sort of remark does nothing more than obliterate their own argument.
And just for the avoidance of doubt, because it can be hard to tell with the written word, this response (and the last one) has been written with a chuckle – some of the things that go on at the football these days is a nonsense…you can get massively worked up about it – or you can realise the ridiculousness of it all and the society we currently live in. Everyone’s got agendas…clearly the EEN has one that is more important than journalistic integrity – fair enough. There were plenty of rascals in all four sections of the ground on Wednesday night and anyone who says otherwise is at it!
I’m away now to be a rascal at Ibrox,
ps there’s plenty of chuckles here as well!!
pps – that spare CS gas cannister will come in handy today for the silence of the sheep!
You have a good day Quags – behave on the streets but give the Dandy Dons some abuse in the ground – its what the game is all about.
I think we mainly all get that we can have a laugh – its just sometimes the written word can come across a bit po-faced so its good just to drop it in now and again.
Ian Black has backed Joe Ledley up with his point of view. I think the 2 of them were closer to the incident than anyone, including Craig “It’s ma ba” Thomson and you quag. Saw it all (and the subsequent ‘riots’ as well) the way from behind your hands at Ibrox did you?
Billy, at this moment of remembrance, let’s put all this carry on behind us and remember the fallen
[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/fzaekm.jpg[/IMG]
Tried my best to show the three wonderful stands at Ibrox bedecked in the Poppy, you might see it in the papers tomorrow.
Now now Quagmire, should you be using what was once a symbol of remembrance as a political tool to score points against others?
bsij . if you ever played football you would know that was a red card ,im glad blacks studs wernt caught in the turf . what a show of remembrance today at ibrox .
Ed, I have family that made the ultimate sacrifice.
We will remember them.
Erm, football on a footy site anyone?
jaz,
Ian Black plays footbal at a fairly high level and he doesn’t think so.
No problems at all with people taking the opportunity to remember the fallen – it is after all the point of Armistice Day / Remembrance Day.
It was your specific reference to BSIJ before you set out to post the pictures – almost as if to point it out to him as if he would take interest/offence/umbrage- after all, thats really not the point of Remembrance Day – its not for point scoring.
You’d probably be surprised at the wide range of views amongst Celtic fans about the poppy and Remembrance Day and everything that now goes with it.