WE CAN SORT IT
Lennon wants bosses to help fix SFA chaos
NEIL LENNON says Premiership managers should be canvassed on how to fix Scottish football’s chaotic compliance system.
As Sportsmail revealed yesterday, club representatives will use the next meeting of the SFA’s Professional Game Board to seek clear-the-air talks with the governing body.
Anger over inconsistencies in the decisionmaking of compliance officer Clare Whyte has grown since the Old Firm clash of December 29.
Celtic and Rangers have both issued stronglyworded statements and, after renewing his criticism of a three-match ban for Parkhead
midfielder Ryan Christie, Lennon believes any summit between chairmen and the SFA hierarchy should also seek the views of disgruntled managers.
‘I would be in favour of getting together,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘There’s too much confusion and controversy. I look at the Ryan Christie incident and it still bewilders me how he got a three-game ban for that.
‘There is no consistency to it. If that means the heads of clubs getting together and getting some sort of clarity, some kind of straight line of dealing with these things as quickly as possible, then all the better.
‘The longer it lingers, the more there’s confusion and debate, then there is anger. There are stories that aren’t true and players, managers and everyone else get angry.
‘It’s a difficult job for the SFA and the compliance officer but we need to simplify it. Make it more straightforward.
‘The managers should have an input. I’ve been at a few in my time.
‘There’s laws which come into it, which is a world away from my world, but we would like it a little bit more straightforward.
‘In terms of suspensions and the changes in the way things are done, there was a lot of debate about that but there’s still a bit of unrest.’
Christie was suspended for violent conduct after grabbing Alfredo Morelos’ groin in the 2-1 defeat for Celtic. Without naming the Rangers striker, Celtic remain angry that he escaped censure for a comparable offence in the same fixture 12 months previously.
Insisting Scottish clubs can’t go on with the confusion and complexity of a system that they themselves signed up to, Lennon added: ‘Most people in football are of the same opinion. The sooner we get it remedied the better.
‘We have a better understanding of it. We’re talking about inconsistencies when we see something happen and yet it goes unpunished when a similar thing happens and it is punished.
‘We then say to ourselves: “We don’t get it”. It’s the inconsistency of it all.
‘With the Ryan Christie incident, I’ve lost a good player for three games for something we think was totally innocuous and accidental.
‘And yet it’s been described by people as an act of brutality. Where that comes from I don’t know.
‘Ryan is not that type of player and we’re without him for three games. We just find it bewildering.’
What might happen next if the current system is altered or ripped up has yet to be considered.
Despite the compliance officer becoming the subject of growing unrest, Lennon (below) believes the role itself still has value.
‘I think there has to be somebody who looks at things and says: “That’s not right and within the laws of the game”. If there is a punishment to be given out — for inciting crowds and that sort of stuff — then so be it. Obviously we want order within the game but we want common sense as well.’
Celtic resume league duty after the winter break at Kilmarnock tonight.
Nir Bitton faces two weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring strain but Kris Ajer is available to fill the gap in central defence.
Jozo Simunovic has also declared himself ready to play despite long-standing knee issues ruling him out of previous games on plastic surfaces.
‘He is in the squad and in contention to play,’ said Lennon. ‘I had a chat with him about playing on artificial pitches and he has made himself available. I thought he looked very good on Saturday, so I was pleased with that.’ Insisting he is still in the market for a central defender, Lennon added: ‘That was the case anyway, so we are still working on that. But there is nothing to report just yet.’ New £2.3million midfielder Ismaila Soro is still awaiting a work permit. Meanwhile, Celtic will play a friendly against Fraserburgh FC to mark the 50th anniversary of the Fraserburgh Lifeboat Tragedy. On January 21, 1970, the local lifeboat the Duchess of Kent was overturned by a freak wave in gale-force conditions while escorting a Danish fishing vessel to safety, with five of the crew lost. The joint funeral of those who perished was attended by 13,000 people and, three months after the incident, Jock Stein’s Celtic team, including members of the Lisbon Lions, travelled to Bellslea Park for a charity fundraising match in memory of those who had lost their lives. Now, to mark the anniversary, Celtic have confirmed they will face Fraserburgh again on a date yet to be arranged.