The Scottish game is being dragged into the gutter. We need to act. It’s shameful

BACK in 2011, Neil Lennon’s home in the west end of Glasgow was placed under 24-hour guard. That same year, live bullets were sent to the then Celtic manager at Parkhead, while explosive devices intended for him and two others were intercepted in the post.

And then he was attacked by Hearts fan John Wilson in the Tynecastle technical area.

This season, the 47-year-old Northern Irishman was struck by a coin thrown during an Edinburgh derby, hours before images emerged of graffiti sprayed on a tenement wall reading: ‘Hang Neil Lennon’.

On the subject of threatening behaviour towards high-profile figures in Scottish football, then, the current manager of Hibernian should be granted an honorary degree.

A repeated victim of hate-filled bile, Lennon believes the authorities now have to crack down on those sending menacing messages to referee John Beaton and his former Celtic team-mate Chris Sutton after last weekend’s Old Firm clash.

Beaton was forced to accept a police guard as he arrived to referee Ayr United against Falkirk at the weekend. BT Sport pundit Sutton, meanwhile, spoke to police yesterday after he, too, received a ‘sinister message’.

Calling on Police Scotland and the courts to crack down on those found guilty of sending ‘shameful’ threats, Lennon said: ‘It’s absolutely disgraceful. I think it’s dragging the name of Scottish football into the gutter.

‘I’ve been involved in incidents like this myself — as a lot of people have been — and it just seems to be one thing after another now.

‘It’s shameful and my sympathies go to John and his family. The guy is just trying to do his job as honestly as he can, so we have to address this issue.

‘I’ve been saying for a long time now, the authorities aren’t strong enough on the perpetrators of these acts. The authorities — whether it’s in football or in government — need to crack down on this.

‘It’s happening far too often and it’s very distressing, not only for the individual but his loved ones and friends. It’s totally out of order.’

Beaton was forced to call police after contentious decisions in Celtic’s 1-0 defeat to Rangers led to supporters posting his mobile phone number online.

Sutton, an outspoken newspaper and broadcast analyst, has also turned to the authorities over a similar threat.

For high-profile figures, the abuse and aggression of anonymous keyboard warriors makes social media an increasingly unattractive place to be. Once a prominent figure on Twitter, Lennon sees the growing level of disturbing vitriol and trolling and now steers clear.

‘It’s a game of football but these people need to be brought to justice and humiliated in public,’ he said. ‘Hopefully, that will be a deterrent for anyone else thinking about doing it.

‘Referees get criticised and that’s fine because they will make mistakes as we all do — but don’t go beyond that. It’s a game of football at the end of the day.

‘It’s a sport that we all love and these people are darkening the image of the game. Scottish football is a great public spectacle and these people are spoiling it.

‘And it’s not a minority either. My worry is that it’s happening far too often now.’

In Scottish football, of course, abuse comes in different forms.

Some, such as that directed at Beaton and Sutton, is malignant.

A player who came to be known simply by his first name, the mistakes of Efe Ambrose prompted frustration and exasperation of a more benign nature.

Exploiting a contract loophole and an option to leave Hibernian this month, the former Celtic defender now looks likely to join Cardiff City. The latest key man to leave Easter Road, Lennon believes his will be big boots to fill.

‘Efe is a big loss to us,’ said Lennon. ‘He was probably our best player in the first half of the season. We have got a lot of work to do. We need to get some bodies in.

‘Obviously, we haven’t been able to agree a deal in terms of finances and that’s disappointing.

‘Getting Efe from Celtic was a no-brainer for me. And for him to want to come from Celtic to us meant it was just about getting it done. The guy is class.

‘I know he’s had his critics over the years. When he made a mistake, he made a mistake!

‘But for thousands of good things he did, he did maybe seven or eight bad things that were really highlighted.

‘It’s a harsh environment being in Glasgow. This is a player who won the African Nations, who played in the Champions League last 16, who won championships and cups. The guy was an elite footballer, certainly at a Scottish level.

‘I think the Hibs fans who are what (Jose) Mourinho would call the Einsteins of the game were sort of scratching their heads at us bringing him in. By the time he left, they were singing his praises about how good a player he is.

‘He did us a real favour. I’m not going to go into the finances of it, but for us to have him for as long as we did was a bonus.’