TURNING HURT INTO HISTORY
He has taken flak from fans but now Lennon has an epic record in his sights
THE absence of fans from Hampden tomorrow will certainly detract from the Cup Final as a spectacle but, from Celtic’s perspective, the potential for history to be made will fill any deficit in tension.
We now know the club’s unbroken run of Trebles stretching back to season 2016-17 is at an end.
That it could yet be extended to four — after hopes of a fifth were first extinguished — is yet another quirk of this most curious year.
Neil Lennon could become the first man in Celtic’s history to complete the domestic clean sweep as a player and a manager. Coming three weeks after having to run a gauntlet outside his place of work, it would be quite the riposte.
‘It would be hard for me to put into words, really,’ said Lennon. ‘Ask me on Sunday if I’ve achieved it.
‘I don’t want to get too ahead of myself. All the talk and speculation is about quadruple Trebles but we have to win a cup final.
‘We need to fully focus on Sunday. If we prevail, then I’ll let you know how I feel after that.’
His caution is under-understand able. Given Celtic have seemingly foundd their mojo againn and are facing a side now playing in the division below them, many outsiders see the completion off another Treble ass close to inevitable.
Lennon views Hearts as a Championship team in name only, though. The history his side have created to this point will have no bearing on the immediate future.
‘We have to take the game in isolation and forget about all the other competitions we’re in or have been involved in,’ he said.
‘It is important to us. It’s important to the people at the club, to the players, to the staff at Lennoxtown and at the stadium and I’m pretty sure and confident it was always important to the majority of Celtic supporters.
‘The Scottish Cup is a very prestigious trophy and we have done very well in it in our history.
‘We want to add another one to our list. It won’t be easy.’
Hearts have had their issues adjusting to life in the second tier but their victory over Hibs in the semi-final showed their capacity to rise to the occasion.
If they are weakened since the day Odsonne Edouard’s goal settled last year’s final in Celtic’s favour, it can’t be by much.
‘They have Steven Naismith, Andy Halliday, Olly Lee who has played Premier League, and Liam Boyce, who is an international striker,’ warned Lennon.
‘And, of course they have Craig Gordon who was an outstanding player here. He has experience of winning the competition as well as winning leagues.
‘I think they’re now good enough to come out of the Championship at the first attempt. They have an excellent manager who has done it before with them. He knows the club and they play a good brand of football. They’ve recruited well with international and ex-international players. ‘With recent results, they’ll play with belief.
‘I’m not taking a anything for granted. We have sseen this week how difficult cup competitions can be for all teams.’ Lennon doesn’t claim to have allal the answers to the myriad questions that were thrown at the authorities after the curtailment of last season. But relegating a side who still had eight games to save their skin left him uneasy. He wonders if another solution could have been found.
‘I thought there may have been another way around things,’ he said. ‘But the clubs took the vote that it was the best way forward, to take the game forward. But, yeah, I had sympathy for Hearts.’
The cyclone that seems to constantly blow through the Scottish game changed direction some time in the summer and started battering Lennon’s door in mid-October.
Three weeks ago, defeat to Ross County in the Betfred Cup proved to be the latest in a wretched sequence of results that even led the manager to acknowledge that his time could be up. Facing down some pretty ugly protests outside the stadium, Lennon’s paymasters have kept faith in him.
The 20th anniversary of him joining the club this month duly arrived with him still in his position. It lent a timely sense of perspective to his recent travails.
‘It’s been a fantastic 20 years,’ he reflected. ‘I don’t know how many championships we have won in that period. Maybe 15 out of 20?
‘It’s unbelievable and I don’t want it to end. I want it to keep going. We are very driven. We’re being tested at the minute, but that can only be a good thing as well.’
After an upturn in form and fortunes against Lille and Kilmarnock, victory tomorrow would surely only ballast his position.
‘It would mean a helluva lot,’ he admitted. ‘But again it’s not about me. I’m only as good as the team and my players and they have been amazing, they’ve been fantastic.
‘Yes, we have had a tough time of it but you can see all around Europe there is nothing normal about this season. We have to be wary of making sure that we are at our best for the game. If we’re not right then anything can happen.’
In the context of this strange old year, his side’s preparations have been about as normal as you could wish for. Covid issues have dissipated for now, with James Forrest the sole injury absentee.
A free week without the drama that has clung to the club like ivy of late has made for a pleasant change in narrative.
‘It’s been nice,’ said Lennon. ‘It’s been different because we are not living in normal circumstances. There’s not the chatter, or people on streets bumping into you.
‘But in terms of preparation here at the training ground, it has been pretty much business as usual.
‘I’m not saying they have turned the corner. We just have to take it game by game. But I think the boys are a lot happier and the mood is a lot better obviously because it just comes from results really.’