Neil deserves some respect, says McInnes

IT didn’t take long for Neil Lennon to make the dizzying descent from prize-winning manager to punchbag. On December 20, the Celtic boss became the first-ever man to complete a domestic clean sweep as both player and manager as Hearts were defeated on penalties in the Scottish Cup final.

However, across the 67 days that followed, his role in delivering the quadruple Treble was completely overshadowed as Celtic’s season fell apart under his stewardship.

With ten in a row rapidly slipping away and Rangers rampaging towards the title, the anger felt towards the 49-year-old by supporters escalated until Lennon finally threw in the towel on Wednesday morning.

It was a sad fall from grace for a bona fide club legend.

But Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes believes that when the dust settles on this disastrous season for the Parkhead club, a fairer evaluation of Lennon’s overall contributions to Celtic will emerge.

‘I’m disappointed Neil won’t be in the opposition dugout when we play Celtic on Saturday,’ said McInnes.

‘I’ve come up against him many times and like to feel as though I can class him as a friend.

‘He’s someone who has had a very successful managerial career. That shouldn’t be forgotten in this.

‘Sometimes he can be seen as a bit of a punchbag. Managers can be (seen as punchbags).

‘But Neil, in particular this season, has had to contend with a lot and will be devastated he’s not been able to get that consistency that would have allowed them to challenge Rangers.

‘But what can’t be forgotten — and what won’t be forgotten — is that Neil has been a successful Celtic manager.

‘At this moment in time, maybe not everyone can see it. But time will be kind to Neil Lennon.’

Fierce rivals during combat, the unforgiving nature of life in a technical area often sees strong bonds develop between managers. Indeed, Lennon reached out to McInnes recently amidst the toughest period of the Aberdeen manager’s eight-year tenure at Pittodrie.

From conversations with Walter Smith, his former manager at Rangers, McInnes believes bosses have never had it as tough as now.

‘We all get stick,’ he nodded. ‘When you sign up to be a manager, you know you’re going to get stick.

‘I speak to Walter a lot and, having spoken to other managers from a different era, what managers in this era have to contend with is far greater than they did.

‘There are all those outside pressures you need to ignore as you try to get on with the job. But it can be difficult.

‘Ultimately, Neil as manager at Celtic, and player, captain and coach at Celtic, he knows the demands. You have to expect tough times as a manager and you have to be ready to try and deal with it.

‘It is important you lean on your experience and your way of working. And it is important you have a degree of calmness.’

In his own tough period, McInnes agonised through Aberdeen’s sixmatch winless run, ended only last weekend when Callum Hendry scored the club’s first goal in 574 minutes to beat Kilmarnock 1-0 at Pittodrie.

There was a dark cloud, though, as Scotland Under-21 striker Fraser Hornby had just limped off with a thigh tear.

That kind of injury can result in up to two months out, but McInnes and Hornby are remaining positive the striker can be back sooner.

‘It’s a disaster for us,’ sighed McInnes. ‘Just as we were getting him up to speed. We will scan him again in a couple of weeks and see where we are. But it’s a real blow for us.’