Lennon can play Trump card but his struggle is not fake news
NEIL LENNON talks about coming across like Donald Trump. It’s the fact it is all starting to become a little bit Mark Warburton that is maybe more of an issue. Because when you are an Old Firm manager, the very last thing you want is to start becoming is a little bit Mark Warburton.
Look, Lennon is entitled to back himself against the mounting criticisms of late. In many regards, it is reassuring to see the combative side of his nature replace the downbeat, arms-crossed demeanour that accompanied his Celtic team rolling over against Rangers two weeks ago.
However, there are parts of that midweek defence of his methods and his club that shouldn’t be allowed to pass. Parts that didn’t add up. Parts that felt disingenuous. Others that were vaguely patronising.
I mean, does he really think that telling punters unhappy with no wins in four games and no Champions League football to ‘calm down’ is going to work?
Calm down? These folk bought up the club’s entire allocation of season tickets, starting at £510 for adults, by the end of July when it was already clear they were far more likely to be watching the games on the internet than from their seat.
They can say whatever they want, within the law. As can anyone else who fancies it. That’s what keeps football moving.
Lennon brands the most vocal of his detractors ‘a minority’. The next step i n that particular playbook involves dragging out the old classic that they aren’t real Celtic supporters. Yet, when pushed, he admits he has no real gauge of what the broad spectrum of the fanbase thinks at all.
Sure, none of us does in these Covid-clouded times. Those internet polls that annoy Lennon seem to suggest it is split down the middle and anyone who canvasses opinion from Celtic supporters during smalltalk at the shops or on the daily constitutional must sense there are certainly more than a few who would escort him from the premises tomorrow.
It is why the manager’s assertion that doubts over his continued suitability are entirely ‘mediadriven’ is so curious.
Have you read one mainstream newspaper state he must be sacked? Have you heard any mainstream outlet broadcast those ‘conspiracy theories’ he mentioned about what he does or doesn’t do on the training ground?
Most of that stuff seems to come from podcasts. Run by Celtic followers.
If anything, certain elements of the established media have, for whatever reason, adopted a rather sniffy attitude towards punters impertinent enough to call out the Northern Irishman.
As if a wage bill of over £50million at the last count shouldn’t guarantee safe passage through the open goal of the Champions League qualifiers once in a while or deliver an Old Firm match in which you manage a shot on target.
Celtic have been poor this term.
Lennon has dressed up scrag-ends as sirloin more often than a wartime housewife at the end of her ration book.
To hit out over hysteria and disrespect just carries echoes of Warburton and the dying embers of his time as Rangers boss. I know that sounds bonkers. But it does.
Listening to Lennon talk this week about how no one has approached him in the street and demanded his sacking — who other than those harbouring a major personality disorder would? — was not dissimilar to hearing poor Warbs after a draw with St Johnstone back in his final season left Rangers lying fifth.
‘We have spoken to enough genuine Rangers supporters and we are not listening to the five per cent minority,’ he proclaimed. ‘The feedback we get from the rest is positive. There are rogue comments in papers or on radio stations. We don’t listen to that.’
Warburton was gone within months, of course. He had bemoaned the ‘poisonous’ coverage of his team being tonked 5-1 by Celtic and got himself into a tizzy over negativity from ‘outside sources’.
Warburton simply didn’t understand the culture. Lennon does. And that is why so much of what he’s had to say — this apparent attempt to shift the spotlight towards the ‘meedja’ — doesn’t wash.
‘You hear all these rumours and that is what happens when you go through a little spell,’ he said. ‘All the conspiracy theories come out about fall-outs, dressing-room break-ups, all that nonsense. It is just fake news.’
Fake news? Who was it that came out after the Champions League loss to Ferencvaros and threatened to sell players after accusing them of spending six months trying to escape?
Who was it that spoke of ‘a bit of a malaise’ in the squad and that ‘some of their attitudes have to be better’?
‘There is a clear lack of respect for the players here, the management here, the backroom team here because of one bad week,’ said Lennon on Tuesday.
This is not about one bad week. It’s two seasons on the trot now that Champions League riches have slid down the toilet because Celtic can’t beat outfits from Romania and Hungary at home. They were trounced by Copenhagen too. And in their last three games against Rangers, they’ve been played off the park.
If there wasn’t the matter of 10 In A Row at stake, and the risks of changing direction mid-campaign, all of that might easily be seen by those on high as justification for a manager’s removal.
Lennon also claims criticism of players was nothing like this in his day 20 years ago.
Some of us have covered Scottish football for over 30. Where Celtic and Rangers are concerned, it has always been part of the gig.
Is there really any need, then, for Lennon to keep hitting back at the likes of Kris Commons or Charlie Nicholas when they voice an unwelcome opinion?
Managers are always going on about the need to rise above the noise. Rightly so. Big-time mentalities are not built by worrying about what @furioustim1967 sticks on Twitter or what Maurice Ross says on the radio.
That Lennon appears to be so irked by it all, whether as part of some deflection strategy or not, only raises questions rather than answering them.
In one breath, he claims this campaign is no different from any other. In the next, referring to Celtic supporters, he states: ‘If they can’t enjoy this season, then I don’t know which season they can enjoy.’
Celtic fans themselves can insert the punchline here. Providing they aren’t still locked in a dark cupboard and refusing to come out after watching the concession of those three goals against Aberdeen last weekend.
Lennon surely won’t be given another go at the Champions League, but the board, for now, seem eager to let him complete ‘The 10’.
That’s fine. He has a squad easily capable of delivering it, providing the required focus and synchronicity exists too.
However, just being a club legend and a decent guy with a big trophy cabinet isn’t enough to save you when the old ennui has set in.
Consider how it all worked out for Rangers and Walter Smith when they ploughed on in search of 10 In A Row when the magic had clearly gone.
No one is bomb-proof. No matter how they view their legacy or the position of power they fill. Indeed, maybe Lenny is right, after all, in comparing himself to Trump.
Both have done a lot of talking in recent days. Both have fought their corner strongly. Yet neither has offered quite enough to change the nagging feeling that the end game is underway.