Former Celtic player and club legend Paul Lambert has recently revealed details of a chat that he had with Neil Lennon.
Lambert appeared as a guest on the latest episode of the Celtic Huddle podcast and the panel discussed multiple issues about Celtic. One topic of discussion was the protests that took place outside Parkhead some weeks ago. Lambert revealed that he had a chat with Lennon around that time and he feels that the fans who protested at that time weren’t ‘real Celtic fans’.
Were fans right to protest against Neil Lennon?
Yes
No
Some weeks ago, there was scrutiny about Lennon’s position at the club and the likes of Eddie Howe and Martin O’Neill were linked with a move to Parkhead. Fans had protested outside Parkhead, with the aim of forcing a change at the club. These protests were aimed at Neil Lennon and the club’s board. Celtic players were also chased down by fans.
Lambert was talking about why the fans treated Lennon wrongly and he revealed that the manager was disappointed with his treatment by the fans.
He said: “What I saw in these scenes wasn’t real Celtic fans. I’ve never ever seen them doing that. I spoke to Lenny the other week there and I asked him how he was, and the disappointment was the reaction of the fans after a couple of games where they haven’t been winning.
“Everybody is entitled to lose games. That can happen at any time, and I think that’s when they needed the support. To be fair to the board they got behind him and I think that’s important that they showed him support.”
TIF Thoughts on Lambert’s comments about Lennon…
As a player, Lennon won a total of five Premiership titles with the Bhoys and also won as many as four Scottish Cup crowns. As a manager though, the former Hibernian boss has helped the Hoops win another five league titles alongside three Scottish Cups. So while the Bhoys have won nine league titles in a row, Lennon has helped them win five of those nine titles.
That clearly shows how much Lennon has contributed to the club over the last two decades and he deserves respect for that. Protesting against Lennon after a handful of average results may not make sense, considering how important he has been Celtic over the years. So in this case, Lambert is right to defend the Celtic manager.