Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PUNCH OF HYPOCRITES
Lennon comes out swinging at his critics
NEIL LENNON has lashed out at critics of Celtic’s controversial trip to Dubai – branding Holyrood chiefs and SFA beaks hypocrites with agendas.
The Hoops boss – who revealed a SECOND player from the ill-fated break has tested positive – reckons government officials and football authorities have a cheek putting the boot in to the Parkhead club and firmly denied his men were out of line.
Lennon took aim in an explosive return from 10 days in isolation on the back of the Middle East jaunt that saw Christopher Jullien catch covid and 16 players and staff ordered to quarantine.
First Minister Nicola
Sturgeon (inset) joined the pile on after pictures emerged of the Celtic manager and Scott Brown sinking beers by the pool alongside others, while SFA chief Ian Maxwell revealed plans to investigate potential protocol breaches.
Hoops chief Peter Lawwell issued an apology after the outcry but the manager has come out swinging.
He said: “The fallout from this has been way too much and a bit of bullying going on, and we have been held to a far higher standard than any other club.
“I’m not going to get into a fight with the First Minister but I’ll take umbrage on her use of the term ‘R n R’, which she selectively picked out of interviews – completely ignoring the hard working we were intending to do, and the intensive training.
“There seems to be some sort of agenda being driven here. We’ve been decimated by these rules. I’m not convinced they’re a public health issue. It seems political.
“Another player has been deemed positive, it is someone who is selfisolating. Everybody’s negative, the whole squad is negative bar two players. I think that’s remarkable and I think it totally blows out the water the way the trip, the training camp has been portrayed by certain quarters of the media, by certain pundits, and by certain government officials as well.
“We did not abuse any ‘privilege’. We did the right things. We were absolutely, totally professional.
“We had a little drink in the afternoon on the day off – completely allowed, no law breaking.
“Yet we come back to this barrage of absolute hypocrisy.”
Lennon fired the same claim at the SFA after they laughed off apparent covid breaches in Serbia at the end of last year when players celebrated with a conga line and a sing song behind closed doors.
Lennon said: “As long as they (the SFA) investigate that that’s fine. It is hypocrisy of the highest order.
“I am feeling aggrieved and my staff and players are feeling aggrieved as well. It is all political.
“We are all sitting outside in a bubble. We may not be exactly two metres apart, but we are in our bubble.
“It’s not a stag do, it wasn’t an 18-30 holiday even though it’s been portrayed like that.
“It’s not as if we were doing a conga at 3am in a dining room or dancing to Baccara in a dressing room – which was lauded by all and sundry because Scotland qualified for the Euros.
“We were not traipsing up and down the country with Covid in a train from Glasgow to London (like SNP MP Margaret Ferrier).
“My players’ behaviour was exemplary. They are top professionals.
“The way this has been portrayed has been a total distortion of the facts.”