Instead though, the season won’t be remembered for the large strides Lennon has made to bring glory back to Parkhead, it’ll be remembered for antics off (and occasionally on) the field. I’ve lost track of the amount of people that have asked me recently, “Why does everyone hate Neil Lennon so much?” – You see it’s not only Rangers fans; it’s basically everyone that doesn’t support Celtic.
There are a few reasons I believe people find it hard to warm to Lennon, the first being the passion he has for Celtic Football Club. It’s an unwritten rule in Scotland that Celtic hate Rangers, Rangers hate Celtic, and the rest of the SPL hates them both. Lennon showing utter defiance every time so much as a throw-in goes against his team gets opposition players, fans and even management wound up. At the same time though, this endears him to Celtic fans because it shows his love for the club.
The second reason is; his face. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Lennon, at least on the touchline during games, has a face that instantly puts people off him. Don’t believe me? Here’s a picture of Lennon supposedly ‘celebrating’ after Celtic took the lead at Tynecastle against Hearts last week…
The third and final reason is sectarianism. As a proud Scot it’s hard to say, but sadly it’s still rife around these parts, Glasgow in particular. People do NOT send bullets and parcel bombs to football managers because they are outspoken. Look at Alex Ferguson, he’s never through moaning about decisions he feels didn’t go his way, but when was the last time you heard of his life being threatened?
Neil Lennon wears his heart of his sleeve, sometimes a little more than he should. This doesn’t take away from the fact that he’s done a great job at Celtic thus far. They’ve played more attractive football than I’ve seen from them in years and in my opinion he should be given the opportunity to develop that further next season. Yes he needs to calm the way he approaches certain aspects of the media, but for that to happen, the mindless bigotry and hatred has to stop first. The pressure of an Old Firm manager on a day-to-day basis is as high as any job in world football, so keeping your calm in the public eye is hard enough without constant death threats.
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