Neil Lennon

Got dunfermline safe now...point i think yo be 100%

 

As much stick as he gets for failing with The 10 and taking next to no responsibility. I still can’t help but like him for all he did for the club as a player and manager with all the * he took along the way. Sorry if that’s unpopular.

 

Hes a good manager. It was the weirdest time in history of world football. I don't blame him one bit for not handling it well. Huge clubs all over the world lost the league that year with no fans.

In the end, he's done us a favour. We can now lift the 10 with fans. Unlike them. Fans who are 30+ have never been able to watch their team win a league in a pub

 

Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is delighted to confirm that Neil Lennon has signed a new two-year contract to continue as our manager.

Neil, who joined the club in March 2025, played a pivotal role in guiding the team to Championship safety. His experience and leadership were key in steadying the side during a challenging period, and his impact both on and off the pitch was quickly felt across all areas of the football department.

The new agreement will see Neil, along with his assistant Iain Brunskill, remain in charge at KDM Group East End Park until the summer of 2027, with preparations well underway for the upcoming season.




Dunfermline Athletic Chairman and CEO David Cook commented. “This is an important moment for Dunfermline Athletic FC. Confirming the appointment of Neil is a clear statement of our intent to build something meaningful and competitive.

“His leadership during the latter part of last season was outstanding, and he brings a wealth of experience, professionalism, and presence that has already made a significant impact around the club.

“None of this would be possible without the ongoing support of James and Evan. It would be remiss of me not to highlight their passion for moving the club forward.

“We know the past few seasons have been challenging — on and off the pitch. Entertainment has been in short supply, but our supporters have stuck with us through some difficult times. We aim to repay your loyal backing by competing at the right end of the Championship, giving you a team to be proud of.”

 

Quite a few freebies that would do a turn for him..

Mo Sylla and Scott Tiffoney from Dundee improve them. Centre backs Blaney from Motherwell, Joe Wright from Killie, Drey Wright from St Johnstone off the right has a lot of pace..

Ross Callaghan then you've got that unit Vassell from Killie who was their captain as well..

Middleton and Boyd-Munce would be really good signings in the championship..

 

Neil Lennon has revealed that he and Ally McCoist endured the full wrath of Walter Smith following their infamous Celtic vs Rangers bust-up in 2011.


In a game that has gone down in history with three red cards, 13 yellows and 34 fans arrested at Celtic Park for the Scottish Cup derby encounter between the teams on March 2, 2011, it is also widely remembered as the time Lenny and McCoist went head-to-head in an angry exchange.

As the full-time whistle sounded on a dramatic evening in Glasgow's east end, the respective club legends locked horns, with TV cameras picking up the pair squaring up to each other.

The match resulted in Scottish government intervention in the days that followed the cup replay, with the Hoops emerging victorious courtesy of a Mark Wilson goal.

Speaking on Open Goal, Lennon has delivered his version of events, as he claimed the rammy began after nasty antics from El Hadji Diouf.

And it was in this chat with Si Ferry that Lennon revealed what Scottish football legend Smith - Rangers manager at the time - thought of it all.

"El Hadji Diouf started it all," Lenny said. "Emilio Izaguirre got injured after Steven Whittacker caught him in a foul, got a second yellow and was sent off.

"Diouf came over to get instructions when Tim Williamson was running onto treat Emilio.

"Diouf gives him one of them (motions an elbow). I clocked it and said 'you f*****g leave my staff alone'.

"Coisty then came on to say 'don't talk to my players'. So, that was the start of it really, then it got really spicy in the game. We won 1-0, they had three men sent off.

"I shook hands with Walter, then he goes. Coisty said 'don't speak to my players like that,' and I f*****g snapped.

"The normal thing to do is to shake hands and leave it, but I said 'is that right?'"

Asked about Smith's reaction, he continued: "He was amazing. He gave us both a bollocking afterwards in my office - he told us to behave ourselves!

"He was brilliant. I loved him. I had a lot of respect for him, he was a brilliant manager. Really, really smart."

 

Tiffoney let go from Dundee …. That just daft man he was one of their better performers last year … their owners gone bat * crazy removing Tony doc and putting pressley in his place


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Really enjoyed the interview. Still rubs me up the wrong way when he talks about the covid season, but his passion for the club sweats out him when he talks about his time here. Will always be a legend for what he achieved.

 

Game here...35 mins in

This game was more explosive than many other real games

 

I randomly watched this on Celtic tv the other day


Forgot how good the atmosphere was

 

Bit mental that Lennon, Brown and Wanyama are all born on June 25th!!

Hope our scouts are checking for other DMs with the same birthday.

 

Read the article below from the excellent, "Don't Let it be forgot"

Something inside so strong

As I was driving through Glasgow’s east end today, the car radio was playing a programme called ‘Soul Music.’ Despite the name, the show looks at the emotional impact of music of various genres on people. Today’s programme was about Labi Siffre’s song ‘something inside so strong.’ Siffre wrote the song in 1984 after watching a documentary on apartheid South Africa. He also stated that some of the lyrics reflected his life growing up as a gay man in less kind times. As various people spoke of the emotional impact of the song on their lives, I was surprised to hear a Scottish voice talking about the song and what it meant to him as a Celtic supporter.

Those of you who follow Celtic will know of the persecution of Neil Lennon during his time as a Celtic player and manager. The abuse he suffered in Scotland ranged from moronic barracking at certain stadiums, physical assault in the street and on the touchline, as well as receiving bullets and bombs in the post. Add to this the day-to-day low-level hassles which made even popping out for a pint a challenging experience. It remains a disgrace that anyone was treated in that manner in our country. Mark Cameron of the Arthur McKenna, Lochgelly CSC said on the radio show….

‘It has been a cult song for sections of the Celtic support for years. It’s a powerful, emotional song which has real meaning for sections of the support. I think because parts of the support have been marginalised in society. Something inside so strong means a lot to Neil as it epitomised his life story. He has been the subject of racist and sectarian abuse both her in Glasgow and in his native Northern Ireland. In 2008 he was attacked while out socialising in the west end of Glasgow, then he was also sent parcel bombs in the post. In 2011 he was attacked at his work at Tynecastle Park.’

The song really resonated with Celtic fans at that time. Celtic played it before a game with Motherwell and Neil must have taken great comfort from hearing 60,000 fans singing it in support of him. Journalist Graham Spiers hit the nail on the head when musing on why Neil Lennon was singled out for the abuse he endured in Scotland…

‘Lennon embodies the very thing that some residual bigots in Scottish society and Scottish football cannot stand: a visible, vocal and successful Irish Catholic who doesn’t shirk from anything. This is too much for some to bear.’

Lennon’s time as a player at Celtic came at time when Martin O’Neill was building what some consider to be the best Celtic side since the Stein era. His 7 years at the club saw him win 5 titles, 4 Scottish cups and 2 league cups. He was also a part of the Celtic side which made it to their first European final in 33 years during that never to be forgotten run to Seville in 2003. All through those years, he lived with the pressure of being a ‘hate’ figure to some in Scottish football. He was clear about why he was picked on. There have been other players in Scottish football as annoyingly feisty as Lennon; one can think of Strachan, Souness or even Scott Brown, but none of them received the level of sheer vitriol Lennon did. He himself said in later years, why he thought this was…

‘Everyone tries to skirt around it but that’s the basis of it, has been since 2000. The first day I stepped onto Windsor Park (Belfast) as a Celtic player I was booed every time I touched the ball having previously played 36 times and had nothing. But with my association with Celtic being high profile, there’s no doubt in my mind that that was behind it and it’s what you want to call it; you
call it sectarianism here in Scotland, I call it racism. If a black man is abused, you are not just abusing the colour of his skin, you are abusing his culture, his heritage, his background. It’s the exact same when I get called a *, a pauper, a beggar, a tarrier by these people with their sense of entitlement and superiority complex. All I do is stand up for myself.’

Lennon, of course, managed Celtic too and brought further success to the club, leading them to 5 more titles, 4 Scottish Cups and 1 league cup. His entire career at Celtic as a player and manager saw him help the club to 10 titles, 8 Scottish Cups and 3 League cups. He also got the side to the last 16 in the Champions league and gave the fans some memorable nights in Europe. Yet, there lingers still among some Celtic fans a sour taste about the events of the so called ‘covid season’ or 2020-21. Lennon was let down by his players, that’s for sure. Playing in empty stadiums seemed to be something of a leveller when it came to Celtic and Rangers deservedly won their first title in a decade.

The abuse Neil Lennon received from a minority of Celtic fans in that ‘Annus horribilis’ of 2021 will, I’m sure make some of them blush when they look back on it. Football is a results driven business and there is no doubt that Celtic were awful that year. There were extenuating circumstances with the world-wide pandemic, expensive signings not showing up well and injuries, but the manager is always likely to be the fall guy. He’s the lightening rod who takes the flak from fans when things aren’t going well. The fact that Celtic totally blew a chance to win ten in a row compounded the misery of that season and somewhere amid all the hysteria some went overboard and displayed a level of petulance that is born of an unhealthy sense of entitlement.

I recall Jock Stein’s last season at Celtic in 1977-78 season. Celtic had a car crash of a season, finishing 5th in the league, going out of the cup to second tier Kilmarnock and failing to qualify for European football. People accepted that it was a bad year but recognised that injuries to key players (McGrain & Stanton) as well as Dalglish moving on in the pre-season contributed to the forgettable displays that year. No one questions the legacy or legendary status of Jock Stein based on that one season. Neil Lennon was clearly no Jock Stein, as he himself would admit, but his time at Celtic seems to be remembered more by some for failing to make it ten in a row, than for his many achievements at the club. He contributed to Celtic winning 21 major trophies and that, in my eyes, is deserving of respect.

Did he make mistakes as manager? Yes, you could argue he should have stepped aside sooner in that dreadful 2020-21 season, but as this pugnacious Irishman demonstrated on many occasions, he was never one for backing down or walking away from a challenge. I hope in years to come that the vast majority of Celtic fans will see what he achieved at Celtic and what he endured on and off the field to do so. As a fan, player and manager, he gave his all for the club. We can ask no more than that.

He stood up to the haters in society and in doing so represented Celtic with fire and determination. Like the club he loved, he faced obstacles that had little to do with football and succeeded despite them all. Like all Celts, he’d nod at the words of the song I heard on the radio today…

‘Brothers and sisters, when they insist, we’re just not good enough
Well, we know better, just look them in the eyes and say
We’re gonna do it anyway, we’re gonna do it anyway.’

https://tirnaog09.blogspot.com/2025/06/something-inside-so-strong.html?m=1

 

How does the thread title relate to the initial post?

 

Great post mate. * bless Neil Lennon

 

Why is this another thread and what merit is this article on a statue of Lennon?
Lennon doesn't deserve a statue, that isn't to disregard all the great things he achieved at the club, but If we give Lennon a statue, we will end up needing to hand one out to about 300 players and it'll get as silly as the WWE Hall of Fame awards.


As for the, extremely, tedious on going drama of that 2020/21 season, the flack he got from Celtic fans, primarily, the disaster of the season and how he handled the entire thing. The fact it was the 10 in a row season doesn't change the outcome of the flack he, rightly, deserved, for that season.

My annoyance over it being the 10 season pretty much flew out of my head by October, if not before. The extremely vast majority of us from October onwards, could not believe how stubborn and dug in he was, and the club. The heat got turned up every few weeks as Lennon and the club kept hiding from the disaster of a season (10 in a row not being the issue anymore), because the season was salvageable, a trophy was still attainable at some stages. We were desperate just to put in a fighting chance of winning something, to make the season at least exciting - whether we would have then won the league or not was almost beyond the point come December and the new year - at that stage the heat turned up big time because we simply just wanted him gone. By January and February (more so January) all feelings and hope had turned to the last grasp that a new manager could at least utilise the remaining season to kick start for the next season - we had given up the title and any chance of silverware long ago. Yet Lennon and the board continued to dig in about this entire thing, doubling down, burying the heads and eventually being stubborn against the very fans that are this club, refusing to do the right thing as not to show that the fans had any say or power in the direction of OUR club.

Then we get to the protests, the flying "sharks" and the carry on that happened there, then the comments by Lennon himself (paraphrasing) where he basically called the fans, the very lifeblood and soul of the club and the people who defended and supported him so much, opinion and views worthless.
For me, that was the point that I gave up on Lennon and I think a combination of many things meant the same for a lot of fans.

Since that season, since the board realised how heated the situation was, they done a wee shuffle of the hierarchy and threw the fans a little soundbite of PL - the man more hated in that season than Lennon - leaving his position. Only the club entirely knew that within 18 months he was going to be back in the seat above him again.

A few years have since gone by, Lennon has managed at multiple clubs now and abroad at that. Yet every single time, he still refuses to take a shred of responsibility and will continue to say that all the outside factors played a part and that the fans are entitled, that these "new" fans aren't what he likes about the support - newsflash, these are the same fans Lennon, I and many more of us have supported this club long before Lennon was even a thought on the club, long long before him. Yet he wants to call my opinion worthless, that I am entitled, that I am not the "right" sort of fan.

Just accept responsibility for his part and most of the detractors would say "aye, thank you, wish you well lad". But he refuses, still to this day.


But aye, lets build a statue because, * it, why no.

 

Mohamed Bangura Deserves statue before Neil Lennon