Walker sticks to his guns with a ‘jolly’ good show

IT was an eagerly awaited address at a time of deep division. Forget new US President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech at the US Capitol in Washington.

The eyes (and ears) of Scottish football were firmly on Livingston’s Tony Macaroni Arena last night awaiting the latest chapter in the feud between Andy Walker and Neil Lennon.

Former Celtic striker Walker had sparked the row by branding his old club arrogant and out of touch after their mid-winter trip to Dubai at the height of a global pandemic led to 13 players and Lennon’s management team missing two matches due to the requirement to quarantine.

‘It is unbelievably arrogant to abuse your status as an elite sportsman (to go to Dubai),’ said Walker, in a withering attack while working for Sky Sports during a Celtic second string’s 1-1 draw with Hibs on January 11.

‘That was only brought in for international or elite competition, not for a jolly. It’s completely unacceptable the way Celtic have behaved here.

‘I want them to show a bit of contrition, a bit of understanding that some Celtic supporters can’t see their grandchildren, can’t see their families.

‘This is not the club I played for. There was no arrogance. And that is what is underpinning this whole debacle here: arrogance.’

Lennon then pretty much laid waste to Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell’s apology by defending the trip — taking aim at Walker, the Scottish Government and the SFA.

‘I want an apology from Andy,’ said Lennon. ‘He has questioned my professional integrity, my players’ professional integrity and the use of the word “jolly” is crass and arrogant. It is not a stag do. It isn’t an ‘18-30’ even though it has been portrayed like that.’

So would Lennon get the apology he had demanded from Walker in West Lothian last night? The answer to that question was ‘no’ as the various meaty issues surrounding Celtic were sacrificed in favour of a dissection of the meaning of the word ‘jolly’ in what was an unsatisfyingly short 15-minute build up to kick-off on Sky.

‘Let’s stick to the facts,’ said Walker. ‘Celtic went on an illfated trip to Dubai; something that they apologised for. The upshot was they dropped four points against Hibs and Livingston with a weakened squad. All of that self-inflicted. I’ve got to say there’s been a remarkable analysis of my use of the word “jolly”.

‘My personal experience is that at Celtic I played under Billy McNeill and Tommy Burns and we went on a mid-season jolly.

‘The purpose of it was exactly what Celtic tried to get a couple of weeks ago: warm weather training, no pressure, no games, a bit of down time — have a beer by all means — but at the bottom of it, absolutely you work hard. So if anyone wants to regard that as a stag do, some sort of Club 18-30s, that’s entirely up to them.

‘I’ve got to tell you, my time at Celtic was the best of my career. I feel incredibly privileged to have played for that club and I was lucky enough to play alongside some of my heroes.

‘But we are in the here and now and Celtic have a forlorn title hope and they’ve got a tough game tonight against Livingston. Preparations have been far from ideal and they are up against the form side in the country.

‘I think nothing other than three points will do for the Celtic supporters tonight.’

We did not hear from Lennon on television, with the Celtic boss declining to talk to Sky, although his players were allowed to speak to the broadcaster.

Perhaps his refusal was for the best given the frosty nature of his pre-match interview with BBC Radio Scotland — even before he saw captain Scott Brown sent off for elbowing Jaze Kabia late in a 2-2 draw in blizzard conditions against what was effectively a second string Livingston side.

Lennon had already talked himself into enough trouble this week, with deputy First Minister John Swinney describing his claims of an agenda against Celtic as ‘absolutely appalling’.

And after dropping two more points amid a calamitous season like no other, even the team of speechwriters behind President Biden’s ‘American Story of Hope’ oratory would have struggled to find the Celtic manager the right words to get a fractured fanbase back onside.