Neil Lennon

So, you don’t have any evidence of Sturgeon criticising Celtic then?

You can contest the validity of quarantine periods all you like, but I’m not going to get drawn into an argument about wether or not Celtic should adhere to them. I would be disgusted at the club if we just unilaterally decided not to abide by public health rules because we felt they were incorrect.

 

She questioned the wether or not it was for training purposes on the back of Lennon’s pre-trip R&R comments, as far as I’m aware.

And she’s justified in doing so as far as I’m concerned. If the manager of the team, who by his own admission made the decision to go, says the trip is about R&R, then it obviously opens up questions about an abuse of the elite sportspeople exemptions.

 

He stated " I want an apology" from walker for inferring the trip was a " jolly " creating an impression that throws all sorts of accusations at manager players ceo, the club as a whole , so he is correct to defend himself and the club and players , the pic around the pool was taken and sent online almost straight away on arriving so it does point to downtime after long travel , but the "jolly" bit could make it seem we couldn't wait to get to the bar and have a party .

 

Spot on.

 

Blasting? Really?

Can you point out where Sturgeon ‘blasted’ Celtic?

I’m pretty sure she’s referring to ‘learning from mistakes’ in the context of the people committing breaches, and not her response to media questions when asked about those breaches.

 

I see that Lennon’s rant has served its purpose. The siege mentality has been built and the deflection from the ridiculous decision to fly to Dubai has begun.

Neil Lennon FC indeed. Can’t wait until we get our club back.

 

The issue is simple. We shouldn’t have went to Dubai and that’s that. It was morally wrong and it’s killed any slim hopes we had of getting back into the title race.

Neil Lennon admitted it was his decision to go, so for that he needs to shoulder the blame.

Despite that, he needs to be sacked for his performance as manager and nothing else IMO. We have regressed so much under his leadership that Rangers are now miles in front of us and likely to be a CL Team next season.

 

Nah for me it's clear it's a training camp with of course some R&R, his comments didn't help but for me, she was happy to put the boot in.. More than it was necessary which is typical of the SNP when it comes to football and Celtic in general.

However, the fact is it was stupid to go on the trip in the first place which has left us open to anything coming our way tbh.

 

To me it’s also clear it’s a training camp with some R&R, but we’re football fans and into it enough to spend a good chunk of time on a Celtic forum.

I would certainly forgive anyone who wasn’t particularly into the game for looking at those pictures and thinking ‘hang on a minute’, particularly when the manager himself has come out and referred to the trip as R&R.

 

As much as it was car crash tv, I think lennon needed to say about the conga and baccara, the level of hypocrisy is bizarre against celtic and certainly needed to be said and addressed, at times the celtic do get treated like second class citizens. but we all know the best way to shut them all up was to deliver the magic 10.

if there was clear legislation from the govts the clubs would be in a better position, however, the goals posts are always being moved and there is a lot of 'grey areas'.

I think the matter of risk is that spending over 5-8 hours air time in a plane would certainly be higher risk at catching a virus than being outside etc... esp if the same cabin air is being recycled around the plane, or 50% of it, no matter where on the plane you are sitting - one infected air hostess, pilot etc can scupper - so for risk alone the risk was a big no no.

camera phones are a ballix these days, they show a moment in time which often is picking up the wrong image it portrays, I am not defending the pics I seen, but players aren't robots and if they agreed for one afternoon for a few hours to have 3-4 bottles of beer I don't think it is gonna make them 'unfit' but try to relax their mind, get some camaraderie amongst the team and refocus for the second part of the season. The club could have booked a private spa resort in Scotland for a few days and suitable facilities?

Can we all agree this season has been jinxed - even the holy water wont save the 10 now

All that is left is take every game and go for maximum points, I cant see the rangers stumbling their squad has too much depth.

If lennon is going soon, who brings in players now for next seasons prep? What a pickle we are in.

 

The idea of the trip was explained in the interview and you can kinda see wer he is coming from in respect, however it was put in place the month before and it would have been hoped we would arrive on the back of a win against them ,which puts a completely different perspective on all of this * , but it was not to be .

 

I genuinely think I could’ve welcomed him back with open arms, over the course of time, before last nights comments.

I’ve wanted him gone for months, and still think the optimal time to have pulled the trigger was before the international break.

Forget that though. A friend passed away with Covid, and my partners uncle has spent the last 2 weeks strapped to a CPAP machine, on the verge of ICU. My own partner works in a school, still going in to help the vulnerable kids alongside those of front line workers thereby putting herself at risk, her mums a nurse and is still feeling the effects from getting Covid back in October. It’s a massive slap in the face to all of them, and indeed everyone of us affected by Covid, to suggest self isolation is purely for political motive (particularly after one of those in isolation actually tested positive ffs).

If that’s his attitude to people going through a year of isolation, seeing their loved ones dying, and their livelihoods disintegrate, then * him.

 

If we had breached Covid laws and rules then the matter would be of legal consequence, I didn't mean simply because Sturgeon had spoken about it.

In the same way that if any other purported crime had been committed she wouldn't flirt with the possibility of a perpetrator being guilty with limited knowledge of the case.

Why? She does it literally every day in Parliament and at news briefings.

There's no way it can be described as neutral and balanced when it was based on emotion & incomplete information rather than facts.

That's the clear implication when it's being made right after talking about us, it's clear that the 2 are related.

If a manager of a shop you worked in called a team meeting to announce wee David has been suspended pending investigation then followed it up with "oh and just to remind you guys, stealing out of the till is theft, gross misconduct and will not be tolerated" then the clear implication is that the 2 are related.

 

He's definetley playing on the 'paranoia' aspect of our support. I used to hate when the huns called us 'paranoid fc' back in the day cause some of the decisions that went for them and against us were ridiculous. The Jim Farry escapade with the Jorge Cadete signing....that wasnt being paranoid....that was real. And even the Mike McCurry * when he admitted he lied and had to resign...that wasnt paranoia...it was real. But Lennon knows a lot of our support still think like this and he's trying to use it to his advantage. He's now blaming the actual government of the country for his misgivings as a manager and our board's incompetence. And he knows there's still a section of our support that will listen to him and actually blame the government for * up 10 in a row. The majority of our support can see through it though Neil. C'mon tae *...do the decent thing. I've a lot of respect for the man. Its hard to hate him. But he's stock is plummeting more and more each day. Just walk. Come back a few years down the line and you'll still get a standing ovation at half time when you do the walking around the pitch waving thing. But you need to go now mate. Now

 

players with kids could get covid brought into the house from schools / creche / au pairs etc - the player could go into training and spread it around the academy.

Not trying to be a *, but if in the next few weeks if numbers are still at current levels, we must look at calling a halt to the season.

as much as we love celtic, we have loved family members (in their golden retirement age) who we love hearing stories from their experiences and times watching jinky, the cup finals with over 90,000 people. some are sick with covid, some have beat it and unfortunately some were taken too soon.

as much as we are frustrated and * at the manager and the players they are out there 'performing' for us and taking risks and I would imagine their family and close friend have reservations. those behind the scenes knew the importance of this season and the plans for 10 should have been made last year in taking a risk and gamble with unique quality to guarantee the 10 - this season will go down as one of the greatest 'what ifs' in Celtics history.

All we want is the club to have an effective short, medium and long term plan to deliver a good quality football brand in celtic. we want good football which will deliver trophies and put on a show in Europe in which we show we can compete and a club to be proud of for our football, our ethos, our friendly nature and awareness for those less fortunate in society.

 

Mate, nothing about that was remotely admirable. His tone and language was actually Trump like: full of deflection, doubling-down and counter-accusations. That wasn’t passion, it was rage, and it was embarrassing.

Also, I don’t buy this line that Lennon doesn’t understand how strongly the fans feel about his position. I think it’s clear, from his defensiveness both now and in that statement to the fans that was put out by him the other week, that he understands perfectly well how under fire he is. In that statement, he used, again, Trump-like language like ‘my record speaks for itself’ and ‘no one wants this more than me’ - as though no one, fans included, has a right to question him. Just as Trump only recognises Fox and few others as ‘real’ media, it’s like if any fans don’t back Neil, they’re not real fans.

So you’re right: this very much is a ‘screw you’, but make no mistake, it’s aimed at the fans as well. We’re just another group of folk putting him under pressure, and he can’t deal with it without losing the nut.

 

Tbf a lot of the trouble has been created by himself and the club.

Who was to blame for our horrendous 2 wins in 13 games? The government? Covid? Primark? Brexit? Rebekah Vardy?

 

Sturgeon speaking about something has absolutely no impact on wether it’s legal or not. All she has done with regards to our trip to Dubai is speak about it. Hence, sturgeon has had absolutely no impact on any consequences, legal or otherwise, of our trip to Dubai.

The reason why she can’t simply give the age old political answer and say nothing, is because it’s a public health issue, and very much a live in, rather than just a Celtic issue. You’re trying to get buy-in from the public with regards to compliance, and they understandably look at these pictures and wonder if the trip is really in the spirit of the elite sportspeople exemption. It simply wouldn’t be good enough for sturgeon to shrug her shoulders and say ‘wait for facts’. What she did do, was contextualise her answer by saying that she didn’t have all the information, but this idea that she could say nothing is a non-starter.

Something can indeed be described as neutral and balanced even in the absence of 100% factual information. What do you think people do when they write about ancient history, for instance? They take the information at hand, point out that they don’t have absolutely all of the facts, and that assumptions will be made, and then form an opinion based on those facts. The very fact that she’s twice stated that she doesn’t have all of the information (and then said largely nothing more about it, other than to talk about elite sportspeople more generally) is what makes it balanced .

 

Get him to *.

Too big an ego for a man who isnt very good at his job.

 

100% reminded me of Trump. Everyone else's fault. No responsibility. Very aggressive.

He has some points but he refused to take any blame. For anything. This whole season.

Same goes for the board and the CEO.