Sport: Saints slam Lennon claims
St Johnstone have hit back at Celtic boss Neil Lennon over comments made about the club’s Covid-19 protocols.
The Perth club’s statement was a response to Lennon’s claim of inconsistencies among Scottish Premiership clubs.
Defending Celtic's Dubai training trip, which led to two players testing positive for the virus, Lennon said Celtic were "all crammed in" with "no social distancing" at Mcdiarmid Park and at Hamilton.
St Johnstone are "extremely disappointed" with Lennon's comments. The Perth side refuted his claims in a statement by Kirsten Robertson, the Perth club's head of football operations.
"St Johnstone Football Club is extremely disappointed with the completely inaccurate and unfounded comments about our facilities made by Neil Lennon in a media conference,” it read.
"We provide one of the largest away team changing areas in the league. Every team, including Celtic, is also provided with a large area for team meetings.
"We follow all protocols and guidance to ensure the health and safety of all players, staff and officials.
"When Celtic visited Mcdiarmid Park on October 4th for an SPFL Premiership match, we made sure their every request and requirement was met. Celtic viewed all of our facilities before the game and no issues were raised. No issues were raised with us after the game.
"All during this challenging period of the past nine months, our football club has maintained adherence to the highest of standards. Indeed, the SPFL delegates have comm ended us on our work during this campaign."
Hamilton Accies also had their say on Lennon’s comments. The club said: “It is not our policy to comment on statements made by other clubs. We are content that we meet the most stringent standards of Covid protocols for all people visiting our stadium.”
Celtic captain Scott Brown was one of the 13 players, along with Lennon and assistant manager John Kennery, who had to isolate following Christopher Jullien's positive Covid-19 test after the club's Dubai training camp. All but the one additional player who tested positive returned to training yesterday ahead of tonight’s Scottish Premiership match away to Livingston.
“We all back the gaffer,” said Brown. “I think what he said was right, as far as I’m concerned.
"I don’t want to get too involved in the politics and stuff, that’s for the manager and chief executive. But for us players it’s about doing our talking on the park and producing results for the manager. We need to stick together, that’s the big one. We need to be with the manager and all on the same page.
“The manager loves this club. He’s been here for 20 years all in and he knows nothing else apart from winning. He tries to drive that in to us every single day in training, whether it’s a possession drill or five-a-sides. That’s the way you need to be at this club. In the last couple of months we’ve not managed to do that in the way we are used to – that’s not the manager, that’s all of us together.”