Lennon’s house calls during crisis
Celtic boss did the rounds when fan rage was at its height
Neil Lennon has been visiting his Celtic players in their gardens.
The Hoops’ boss revealed he has felt forced to pass on in-person reassurance, such has been the level of abuse aimed in their direction from their own supporters this season.
Describing it as “at unprecedented levels”, Lennon said it had left him worried about his playing staff’s mental health.
The Irishman has also accused his peers of ‘selling their souls’ to court popularity.
In recent weeks, Chris Sutton and John Hartson – both former team-mates of the Irishman – have called for Lennon to go.
Neil Lennon has been so worried about the mental health of his Celtic players that he has taken to visiting them in their gardens to pass on personal reassurance.
The Hoops boss made the revelation in response to a question about whether the coronavirus restrictions had made man-management tougher.
“Yes, it has been very difficult,” admitted Lennon.
“I have been to players’ houses. Not inside, obviously, but outside, chatting to them and their partners, and just trying to support and encourage them. It was something I felt was required at the time, with the level of abuse, criticism, whatever you want to call it.
“They are human beings at the end of the day. They have come up here in good faith.
“It is obviously not the picture or landscape they would have expected.
“We hoped there would be supporters back in the stadium. That has been a huge loss for us and, with the significance of the season, it has been a shame.
“But, listen, this is not exclusive to us. Everybody is going through the same thing but maybe they don’t have the demands that we had coming into such a significant season.
“I still do think the criticism has far outweighed anything I have come across in my career – to these players and the staff and myself.
“I think it’s a sign of the times. I think we live in a time where it is not objective any more. It’s more personal.
“I think that people don’t see you – or choose not to see you –as a human being. The criticism and the abuse is a lot harsher.
“I have seen it with other people, peers of mine, looking to court public opinion, get more followers, get more clickbait and that type of stuff.
“These people have sold their souls a little bit, and I’m quite happy with the way I have dealt with things.”
As Lennon acknowledges, Celtic have struggled individually and collectively in a season that has seen an early exit from Europe, followed by the failure to keep
pace with Rangers in the Premiership. The situation reached a hiatus around the beginning of December, when the League Cup exit at home to Ross County was followed by dropped points against St Johnstone at Celtic Park.
Irate fans gathered outside and some attempted to get at the team bus.
Some players have had more obvious difficulties than others, with Shane Duffy – the Republic of Ireland defender on loan from Brighton – going through the agonies due to some calamitous mistakes.
“Shane would be the first to admit he hasn’t been as good as he can be, and he will be massively disappointed with that because of the way he feels about the club,” said Lennon.
“I think he has beaten himself up a lot.
He has been very self-analytical to his detriment.
“He’s been very hard on himself, and he has been getting a chorus of criticism from all and sundry as well.
“When you go home to an empty house, that can be difficult to deal with at times.
“We’re giving him all the support he can get, and we’ll hopefully start seeing the best of him again soon.
“It’s not that all the games have been a disaster. He has played well in some of the games as well, but that seems to get overlooked by some people.”
Duffy’s problems have been to the benefit of Stephen Welsh, with the 21-year-old Scot getting the opportunity to show what he can do.
“It has been great,” said the youngster, who opened the scoring against Motherwell yesterday.
“For a player my age, it is all about trying to put a run of games together.
“John Kennedy went through a similar path to get into the first team here, and he has helped me a lot with wee tips before and after games to make me play better.
“I was fortunate enough to watch Virgil Van Dijk every other week. He was unbelievable at Celtic.
“You could tell from the early stages how good he was going to be. He strolled every game. You could see the worldclass player coming out.
“Now he is down at Liverpool, and for me he is 100% the best defender in the world.”