Neil Lennon, Open Goal interview

You can care less about his obligations but can also understand he still has them. No one is asking your heart to bleed for him either, just acknowledge that he was on a contract and the club needed to pay him off to remove him from that contract. It’s a bit ironic that you, as a Celtic fan, give less of a * about his obligations and yet want to pull on his heartstrings on his love of the club.

The club should have acted sooner. It’s on them to make the change. Again, they were probably hoping he would walk to save them paying him off. He should have been punted far earlier because results, his attitude and everything else was well off. Again, the club should have recognised that and acted accordingly.

I’ve left it in the past and forgiven him for it. I’m also of the opinion that he should never be back here, certainly not in any sort of management or coaching role. Some on here clearly haven’t left in the past because they can’t see past it.

I just think that, given what we know of him as a player, captain, coach and manager, that winning mentality, never say die attitude was always going to overpower his decision making. You’re asking a serial winner to admit he’s not able to turn something around. He’s never going to accept that and likely still doesn’t.

 

That’s the first open goal episode I’ve watched in a while and really enjoyed it.

While I’m over that season in general now, I don’t think his role in it, and his failure to accept any form of responsibility should ever, nor will ever be forgotten. Even now, years down the line it’s the players to blame, government to blame, rules to blame. Not the fact his recruitment that year was honking, man management of the players terrible and the fact he continually selected players who quite clearly had no interest in being there and repeatedly failed to perform.

I wouldn’t hold him completely accountable for how long it went on, because the club should’ve taken in out of his hands after the first hun game but I still felt he should’ve done the right thing and walked when it was clear that he’d * it completely and utterly beyond repair. I get it’s his livelihood and he was probably paid a fortune to actually be sacked but by that stage I dare say he’d earned an eye watering amount of money from the club over the course of his 10+ years association and football in general, he didn’t need that pay off and given his passion and love for the club I feel like he could’ve put that first because it was blatantly obvious we were going nowhere.

That being said, I place far more blame on the the club for that than him. He also did himself no favours going after the fans the way he did.

Time will probably be kind to him however, and the success we’ve had since then probably works in his favour too and I really enjoy listening to his punditry.

 

Could not agree more with this, and it's a point I made to my pal at work at the time. We were all absolutely raging but even in the midst of it all I recognised that it's just not in his makeup to give up. It's the characteristic that made him as successful as he was.

I also feel like the reasons he gives - that dubai trip especially, the fact he was given the ok then the government changed the goal posts and threw him under the bus - are legitimate, yet those who blame him don't like to acknowledge it out of some kind of stubbornness.

End of the day the man was faced with an almighty problem and failed to deal with it. It doesn't diminish his status as a Legend in my eyes, it's just an unfortunate event in his story that he didn't deserve after everything he gave us.

 

I'm glad the Covid season was only a small section of the interview (I've long since gotten over that season). Other parts of the interview were far more interesting, small insights into his views on players or tactics.

 

The covid season seems to get lost to just being passed off as due to restrictions and us struggling due to no fans but I can still remember Lennons weekly review of the players body language where he said for weeks it was great then we lost a game and he came out after it and said they're body language was shocking for weeks.

Then the mental subs he used to make where he would take a striker off for an attacking mid only to 5 mins later bring a striker back on

Theyre obviously and clearly was other factors in play that season but Lennon was a massive part of it as well and he turned on the support that season as well.

Just also remembered about the review in the new year and the hostage videos we released of Broony

What a weird horrible season that was

 

Don't really hold any ill will against him for the COVID season stuff. People were fixated on 10IAR but ultimately I've not seen that as some holy grail myself.

If none of that * happened we wouldn't have gotten Ange, and that first season under him winning the league back, signing the Japanese bhoys, Rogic back to his best, Jota, CCV, Hart, Starfelt etc. was one of my most enjoyable seasons watching us. We bounced back in some style and are now in a better place because of it.

Philosophical birthday caird pish? Aye, but you know I'm right

 

It’s unfair on him, but I never liked the way he came back to the club in the showers while we were all distracted.

It was just so emblematic of the wider disease that occupied the club at the time.

Ange’s CV was on Lawwell desk and didn’t even get looked at.

The Celtic support get a lot of stick for the way we reacted to that season, but if we hadn’t made such a fuss Lennon would’ve been there the following season and Ange would never have happened.

 

Oh absolutely agree that we were operating like an * outfit and the jobs for the boys stuff was holding us back (still an element of that today). For me though I think water under the bridge, everything happens for a reason etc. etc. I was just as apathetic and * off in equal measure at the time though.

Just not worth holding a grudge against Lennon (albeit him still not taking any responsibility is a bit of a riddy) as it was a perfect storm for the Huns as we were toiling in so many ways compounding mistakes all over the place. On the whole though we've done not bad despite that * of a season.

 

Did he mention the time we blew the league in his first season against Inverness cos the players where hungover having been on a bender from Poty awards.

Would have made for hilarious bants im sure

 

He made so many mistakes that year. It was a colossal * up by all that started with keeping players who clearly didn't want to be here. However, if we sold them, we would all have been screaming that they sold our best players the year of 10i n a row.

Should he have gotten the job in the first place? Probably not. And yet, he won another treble.

Aye, I definitely think that his issues with the Dubai trip were valid when it comes to the legalities of it. Goalposts were likely moved. For me, it was the wrong decision and not even from a legal point of view. Taking your multi-millionaire players on a trip while people were dying in this country just seemed like a silly idea, given what was going on. Again though, the club should have been smart enough and savvy enough to see that it was going to be a PR disaster and then the worst happened, where one of the players actually caught covid.

Serial winner, absolute legend. Always loved him and always have.

 

On the Dubai trip, think it was a desperate measure by a man willing to try anything to get things back on track. It worked an absolute treat the year before so he probably thought it was worth the risk.

Obviously turned out about the worst thing he could have done, but I think it came from a good place.

 

Regardless of Lennon and Celtic's errors, the huns were absolutely at it that season.