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Neil Lennon

Discussion in 'Ex Players' started by romeo9535, Apr 17, 2016.

Discuss Neil Lennon in the Ex Players area at TalkCeltic.net.

  1. Sydneysider

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    If in fact it was his decision.

    Was it worth a try to save the season ? If the trip actually achieved some "bonding"in a clearly dysfunctional group and as a team building exercise to an embattled manager ? Probably yes, and most managers in the same situation would have said the same.

    What else could NL do ? In a sporting / managerial sense it was an understandable decision The season was coming apart long before the Dubai trip , I know who I blame for that and its not Neil Lennon, maybe 8 or 9 other names spring to mind for me at least.

    But the decision should NEVER have been a footballing one, the Board or CEO should have made the decision not NL and it should have been based on the wider community and PR implications of going.

    Its been a PR "disaster" but only because of the inherent distaste for Celtic and our fan base amongst the Scots media ( TV and Press ) , who are justifiably proud of their reputation as the most biased, ill-informed * licking scum.

    Of course self serving Politicians are happy to jump on the ( holier than thou) bandwagon.
     
  2. Valhalla Thus spoke Batistuta.

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    This whole ‘we’ve only got two positive cases. It’s remarkable how it’s so low’ isn’t the defence he seems to think it is.

    It just makes it sound like they were expecting more positive cases by going on the trip and are surprised they managed to keep it to only two.

    If you think it’s ‘remarkable’ we managed to only get two cases from a pointless trip then maybe we shouldn’t have went.
     
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  3. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    HE reckons it’s been made to look like a stag-do p*** up.

    A Club 18-30 winter sun lads’ week.


    Pints by the pool, shots at the bar. Less work and more play, while the rest of the country was lumbered with another lockdown.

    Yet Neil Lennon insists Andy Walker and anyone else who has that opinion of Celtic’s training camp in Dubai has got it all wrong.

    Walker branded his old club arrogant in SunSport for travelling to the Middle East, before pointing to photos of Lenny and his team drinking, and labelling it an extravagant jaunt and a “jolly”.

    But the Hoops boss has been left raging with that version of events and hit back: “The innuendo and the insinuation from Andy Walker that it was a ‘jolly’, I can’t have that. I can’t tolerate that at all.


    That calls into question my professionalism, the professionalism of my players, my staff and the people who were out there helping us. It’s an absolute scandal.

    “The fact is 80 per cent of my squad are probably tee-total. It’s a distortion of the facts. And for him to go on a public platform and accuse Celtic of being arrogant, demanding an apology from the club, which we’ve done.

    “Even then, it wasn’t good enough for him.


    “I want an apology from Andy Walker. You can’t falsify what went on with a total misrepresentation of reality.

    “You can’t go on a public platform and spread insults about my professionalism and my players’ professionalism.




    You know the inference he’s meaning by saying it was a ‘jolly’. It wasn’t a stag-do, it wasn’t a Club 18-30 holiday, even though it’s been portrayed like that.

    “We went out there with the best intentions.

    “The lads had one day off. They got into Dubai at 7am and they were entitled to a bit of down time.

    “It’s not as if they were doing a conga in a dressing room, dancing to Baccara or travelling up and down on a train journey from London to Glasgow with Covid.

    “I think we’ve been harshly treated. There’s been a bit of bullying going on and we’ve been held to a far higher account than any other club.

    “But for Walker to use the term ‘jolly’ is quite crass and arrogant.


    He accused the club of being arrogant last week, we weren’t. We had no intention of being arrogant or rubbing it in anyone’s faces.”

    Lennon only just stopped short of using the expression ‘Fake news’.

    But that’s pretty much how he sees this whole sorry episode and the media storm it has created.

    The wagons have been circled now. Forget the public apology from chief executive Peter Lawwell last week. That’s now null and void. Lennon went on the attack with more determination than his under-strength team did in their last two draws against Hibs and Livingston.

    For some, this siege mentality only underlines their opinion he is no longer the man to boss Celtic.

    In a weekend podcast, ex-Celts striker John Hartson called for Lenny to go.

    Lennon said: “John has an opinion, like more people on the periphery of the game.

    “You either take it on board or you don’t. It has no impact on me. It means nothing.

    “When he praises me, it means nothing. When he’s talking about me losing my job or being removed from my post, it means nothing to me.



    But when you are on the media side it’s an easy life.”

    Lennon could be forgiven for wanting one of those. For now, though, he’s defending his position.

    The debacle of Dubai may be something he lives to regret, but he’s refusing to back down.

    Lennon’s even annoyed at the process that forced him and 13 players to self-isolate after Christopher Jullien’s positive test result.

    He said: “This is where I’m confused because clubs in Scotland have been travelling up and down the country in two buses.

    “With these guidelines now that we’re having to adhere to, it means only three players can travel on a 52-seater bus.

    “When we played Hibs last Monday, we had to bus six players on two 52-seater buses. That means every club in the country with a squad of 30 people would have to take TEN buses.



    For me, the goalposts are completely moved. We have been in dressing rooms throughout the country, like Hamilton and St Johnstone, where there is zero physical distancing.

    “There is no space, we are cramped up, 15 to 20 people in the one room.

    “We adhere to all protocols, and to every rule in place, yet we have 13 players and three staff isolating for ten days that, apart from one, are all negative. That is absolutely preposterous.”

    Lennon’s stance must have pricked the ears of owner Dermot Desmond and supremo Lawwell.

    But he insists he is not fearing for his immediate future and added: “They are fully behind me. I’m in contact with Peter Lawwell daily. There has been no talk of any change or any difference to my position. I’ve always been appreciative of the support Peter, and the board have given me.


    They have been absolutely wonderful. It’s only a month ago we won another Treble. Since I’ve come back, we’ve won five trophies in a row.

    “That seems to have been forgotten very quickly by some people. It’s not an easy thing to do.

    “I think I’m the first person ever to win the Treble as a player and manager.
    “We’re going through a difficult period. We’re going through a bit of adversity and you need to be strong.

    “I believe I’m the right man for the job, completely. I have the backing of the board and the players.”

    Celts sit 21 points behind title favourites Rangers and Lennon admitted: “We’ve got to win every game now. It’s as simple as that.”
     
  4. Mr. Slippyfist

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    GovanHILL.
     
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  5. seanm

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    If we hadn't had went to Dubai we could have won our last 2 games if our squad weren't in isolation and the huns then dropped 2 points against Motherwell and if we won our games in hand then while not winning the league we could have exerted some pressure on the huns. But no let's have a jolly cause thats what it was.was julian going to do sprints on one * leg.this is all on lawell and lennon and * dermot for having no balls except a * slazenger 6.*. I have supported celtic for almost 60 years and never have I seen the club behave like this.a * traffic cone could replace those *.HH
     
  6. seanm

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    It was one step away from ally mcmoists who are these people rant.* embarrasses to be a fan now .gtf asap.HH
     
  7. seanm

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    Bollocks this was all our fault.using sturgeon is something the * huns would do.unionist *.i would imagine at least half our scottish fans are SNP voters and it's an insult to their intelligence.* lennon lawell and desmond.gtf .asap.HH
     
  8. seanm

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    Lennon's rant has us * fighting amongst ourselves.well done * .HH
     
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  9. Henrik 07 Gold Member Gold Member

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    SEETHING Neil Lennon hit out at Nicola Sturgeon during an astonishing rant defending Celtic’s Dubai trip debacle.

    The Hoops boss slammed the First Minister for calling the sunshine training camp “R&R”.

    And he blasted critics’ “hypocrisy” on Covid protocols with a nod to Scotland’s Euro 2020 heroes partying to Baccara hit Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, and MP Margaret Ferrier allegedly taking a return train trip from Scotland to London while infected.

    The tirade came as he revealed a second Hoops player had tested positive for coronavirus.

    Lennon said: “I’m not going to get into a fight with the First Minister.

    “But I will take umbrage on her use of the term ‘R&R’, which she selectively picked out of interviews — completely ignoring the hard work we were intending to do and the intensive training.


    And the innuendo that we abused our so-called privileges when we were there. That couldn’t be further from the truth.



    “It’s not as if we were doing a conga at three o’clock in the morning in a dining room, or dancing to Baccara in a dressing room, or traipsing up and down the country with Covid in a train.

    “My players’ behaviour was exemplary. The way this has been portrayed has been a total distortion of the facts.


    Yet we come back to this barrage of absolute hypocrisy.”

    Lennon let rip at his first press conference since being forced into self-isolation along with No2 John Kennedy and 13 Hoops stars following defender Christopher Jullien’s positive test.


    The under-fire boss defended snaps showing him and skipper Scott Brown on poolside loungers next to pints of beer.

    Another pictured Hoops stars gathered round a table with empty glasses nearby.



    Lennon claimed his players have been treated like “common criminals”, adding: “All the people in the photographs are negative. We may not be exactly two metres apart, but we are in our bubble.”

    We told how Ms Sturgeon was “frustrated” by the getaway,saying: “The club described the trip as R&R.”

    Celtic chief exec Peter Lawwell apologised last week

     
  10. Double Dutch

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    Know what you mean mate, it's hard to get away from the feeling of anger at lenny and the board about the whole calamitous * show, but seeing * on here and twitter joining in the lynching of the club and manager, seamlessly merging in with huns and masons and bigots has got my back right up.

    Lennon has lost the plot and should have been gone months ago, but he's fighting for OUR club more than anyone in here is so he's got my respect for that at least.
     
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  11. Twisty Rodgers out !!! Gold Member

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    No, he was correct to point out the inconsistencies. Been that was since the start of this, from the UK government and the Scottish government. Handled it terribly from the off.

    I wouldn't vote for them now, if I did in the first place.
     
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  12. TransferBhoy

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    The fact Lennon is here till May is absolutely frightening.

    Our Board are a complete and utter shambles and so out of touch with the fans. I feel like we are turning into Newcastle.
     
  13. Bobo_ Gold Member Gold Member

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    :56: Pantywetters

    His employers publicly stated there would be a formal review of his position this month
     
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  14. Bernie Bhoy

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  15. littlekennie

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    It’s on Twitter


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  16. Bernie Bhoy

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    Who's Twitter account Sturgeons?
     
  17. Peej Gold Member Gold Member

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    About as sensible a take on yesterdays * show as you'll find.

    Sure there may be some truth to what Lennon picks up on, regarding change in how track and trace was used during that time period, very suspect if so and if we are victims to that then the club would do well to actually challenge it legally, at a sporting level and to lay it out quite clearly and orderly - not in a raging Neil Lennon interview that takes a scatter gun approach to defending his own position.

    Because let's be honest, that's what it was yesterday. Lennon and the board have found some weak line of thinking to try and turn the narrative (remember they are good at doing this all season) and are clinging on for dear life hoping the, as always, fickle mindset of a football supporter kicks in and we all turn our anger to someone else and give these incompetent (being nice) * a bit of breathing space again.

    Bottom line, there are two men responsible for that Dubai trip and no matter how you paint it, before we even tool off on the plane it was a pr disaster.
    2metre, 4metres, 1 case, 30 cases, doesn't matter the trip never should have happened and it was handled completely unprofessionally and has resulted in a positive test that did not need to be.

    After that you can * all you want about guidelines being changed, but we went on this trip.

    "They let us" isn't a * excuse. Have some self respect and responsibility for * sake.

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  18. Peej Gold Member Gold Member

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    It was a pr disaster before the media ran with the story.
    This has nothing to do with the media and everything to do with basic public relations. Not media relations.

    We don't need the daily record to tell us that flying to Dubai during a global pandemic is a bit of * idea.

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  19. Seán Mac D Gold Member Gold Member

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    The 2 aren't mutually exclusive.

    The trip to Dubai can be unwise/unethical/immoral but that doesn't mean Sturgeon, Swinney or any other SG politicans should be commenting on it, if no laws were contravened.

    Just because many Celtic fans are SNP voters (I myself am one) doesn't mean we need to bend over and take it, when politicans try to score cheap political points at our expense.

    If Sturgeon and Swinney were so horrified at our trip then they should have been contacting the Government office or individual that granted us approval.

    The fact that the 2 above chose not to use their public platforms to be scathing when other situations have arisen which have contravened laws, shows we're being singled out eg. Scottish Rugby players attending a house party, contracting the virus and then playing in games or the Huns birthday party, where several attended and broke the law.
     
  20. Mr. Slippyfist

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    Correct.

    Whether or not folk or any officials felt our trip was in some way “immoral” then that’s their issue.

    The fact is the trip was sanctioned and was allowed. No wrong doing.

    Perhaps those in power having a pop ahould look at their own system and ministers who allowed travel to and from Dubai, and why borders were/are allowed open during a pandemic.

    I’m working not too far from Glasgow airport and their are at least 6 flights I see taking off of all different sizes, including almost daily an Emirates plane most likely heading for Dubai. Still...