Another day, another Neil Lennon story blaming everyone but himself for the demise of our Ten in a row bid. I can’t be the only one who finds themselves losing even more respect for Neil each time he reaches out to the media to try and exonerate himself of any blame in the disaster that was last season?
As Lubo98 reported earlier, Neil has been talking about events last season to The Sun, one of his many contacts within the media. We have heard Neil blame basically everyone and everything but himself recently when talking about our worst performance during a league campaign since the mid-90’s. We have heard just about every excuse going and this time he revisits the theme of blaming the ‘Wantaways’ once again.
Neil Lennon. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
We all watched last season unfold before our eyes. No matter how painful it was we tuned into each match hoping we would suddenly find our form and turn the season around but to be honest we all sensed very early that our chances were slim. We just didn’t look up to it. We all knew something was wrong.
We went from a team in the first few months of 2020 before Covid struck who were chugging along like a well oiled machine, meeting every challenge head on and cruising towards what would be our ninth league title in a row, to a team who looked absolutely hopeless, dropping points regularly and failing to land a punch in our matches versus theRangers. We could clearly see some of our ‘stars’ had chucked it early, players who had previously been all conquering now performing at about 75%, and that’s being generous to some of them.
Photo: Ian McNichol
Neil Lennon agrees with us. He claims he could see this as well. Incredibly though he states he saw this as early as pre-season! Speaking to Scottish Sun regarding the ‘Wantaways’ he said:
“You could see it pre-season, the body language, they weren’t with us. You could smell it.
Let that sink in. Neil knew the players had chucked it in pre-season. He makes these comments in defence of himself. Neil Lennon was the manager of this team. If he knew that these players didn’t want to be there why didn’t he do something about it? Is that not what he was being paid handsomely to do?
We know these players were sought after. We know for a fact that there were bids put in to the club for at least some of these players. OK the club will claim they weren’t close to what they thought they were worth. They say due to Covid the market valuation for players was skewed as clubs were apprehensive about parting with large sums of money. This may all well be true.
Photo by Stuart Wallace
In the end we got somewhere around £14m plus add-ons for Odsonne Édouard. We got £13.5m plus add-ons for Kris Ajer. We got £2.5m plus add-ons for Ryan Christie. Are you trying to tell me we wouldn’t have received more than that last summer regardless of Covid? Last season destroyed their valuation as they half assed it around the park as part of a horrible team performance that cost us ten in a row. No one was going to be bidding big money for these players now.
If Neil knew these players didn’t want to be there, knew that some were feigning injury to get out of playing then why in hell was he continuing to play them week after week? This Neil. This is why it is your fault more than anyone elses. You had the power to look at what these players were offering and act accordingly. Not interested in giving 100% for Celtic? No problem. Hope you don’t get piles from sitting in the stands for two hours every Saturday.
Photo: Chris McCluskie
This is why football is a game played with a squad not just a starting eleven. Celtic have around 25 players each year capable of playing for the first team. If there are players not giving their all then play the hungry ones waiting for an opportunity. Patryk Klimala has recently said in an interview how disheartening it was when Lennon played a midfielder (Ryan Christie) in his position. I’m sure it’s even more disheartening when seemingly everyone including your manager knows that said player doesn’t even want to be at the club anymore.
The more excuses Neil Lennon comes out with regarding last season the more I find myself getting frustrated with him. Take ownership of it and us as fans might in time remember you for the great success you had during your playing and managing career at our club. Continue this ‘its everyone else’s fault’ charade and more and more of us will be left with a bitter taste in our mouths.
Conall McGinty
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