LENNON HITS OUT
Celtic boss takes no prisoners in astonishing press conference with the Government, SFA & John Hartson all in the firing line
NEIL LENNON and the Covid isolation crew spent 10 days under house arrest but the Celtic boss reckons it is ridiculous his squad have been made to feel like common criminals for their trip to Dubai.
It’s always dangerous to corner an animal as it’s likely to turn around and bite. Well, Lennon came out of quarantine yesterday and sunk his teeth into his attackers. A chunk was tore out of the SFA hypocrites who criticised Celts while turning a blind eye to Scotland’s squad’s conga. Pundit Andy Walker was lashed at for branding the jaunt a jolly and questioning the gaffer’s professionalism. Even the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was on the end of a counter having waded into the big Dubai debate and used the matter as a political football after pictures emerged of the boss and Scott Brown among a group sipping beers by the poolside. Lennon is up against it on the pitch with the title race turning into a Rangers procession. But he’s not going to shy away from the battles off the pitch in the meantime when he feels both himself and the club have been slighted. Lennon will say sorry to his own fans for two players getting Covid and 13 others ending up in quarantine – but that’s it. As far as he’s concerned Celtic did nothing wrong – and they are the ones due apologies for the pile-on.
He said: “The fallout from this has been way too much and a bit of bullying going on, and we have been held to a far higher standard than any other club.
“I’m not going to get into a fight with the First Minister but I’ll take umbrage on her use of the term ‘R n R’, which she selectively picked out of interviews – completely ignoring the hard working we were intending to do and the intensive training.
“And also that we abused our so-called privileges when we were out there. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
“We were sitting outside, in our bubble. We may not be exactly two metres apart but we are in our bubble.
“There was no Chris Jullien (who tested positive) in the photographs. All the people in the photographs were negative.
“We are in an area. Some players are in a bar, not all of them drinking.
“They are maybe not totally distancing but they are sitting there quietly watching the football for half an hour with masks on.
“We got treated like common criminals for it. I apologise to Celtic supporters for the fallout and what has happened.
“That was never our intention. We went out there with the best of intentions to do a good week’s work, come back and look
forward to rest of the season. We followed protocols but it has backfired on us because the goalposts have been moved.
“My apology is to the fans because 13 players and three staff had to isolate for 10 days, which was ludicrous, but I’m not apologising for anything else.
“I’m not apologising for going out there and training for a week, I’m not apologising for the players having a day off.”
Lennon wasn’t going to accept Sky pundit Walker’s stinging criticism either.
He said: “The innuendo and insinuation from Andy Walker that it was a ‘jolly’ – I can’t have that. I can’t tolerate that at all.
“That calls into question my professionalism, the professionalism of my players, my staff, the people who were out there helping us. It’s an absolute scandal.
“The fact that 80 per cent of my squad were probably teetotal, it’s a total distortion of the facts. For him to go on a public platform and accuse the club of being arrogant, demanding an apology from the club, which we’ve done. “Even then, it wasn’t good enough for him. “I want an apology from him. You cannot go there and falsify what went on with a total misrepresentation of reality.”
Hoops chief exec Peter Lawwell eventually apologised for the ill-fated trip but Lennon said: “First of all, it shouldn’t have been Peter out apologising. It should have been me – it was my decision.
“We made it with the best intentions for the players and the club. Unfortunately, we picked up one, now two, infections out of a group of 60. It did show that our protocols are all in place and working.
“But I do feel we have been harshly frustrated in terms of the amount of people that have had to isolate and the time they had to isolate as well.
“There was no outbreak, no misbehaviour. We were very professional in how we went about our business. We prepared as if we were going away on a European trip.”
Lennon reckons Celtic did well to restrict any outbreak to two players – and it’s the SFA and government rules that are a mess.
He said: “We were under the impression that with business class seats, the distance from two seats back was pretty safe.
“Some lads had to isolate because they were on buses with Christopher.
“This is where I’m confused. Because all clubs in Scotland have been travelling up and down the country in two buses.
“With these guidelines now that we are having to adhere to it means that only three players can travel on a 52-seater bus.
It shouldn’t have been Peter out apologising, it should have been me – it was my decision
“So when we played Hibs last Monday we had to bus six players on two 52-seater buses. So that would mean every club in the country with say, 30 people, would have to take 10 buses.
I want an apology from him. You can’t go there and falsify what went on. It’s a scandal
“The goalposts are completely moved. And in terms of physical distancing, we have been in dressing rooms – Hamilton, St Johnstone – where there is no physical distancing. We are cramped up, 15-20 people in the one room. Now, all of sudden, we’ve adhered to all protocols, taken photographs, adhered to every rule in place and we have 13 players, and three staff isolating for 10 days that, apart from one, are all negative.
“It is absolutely preposterous.”