NEIL LENNON was not pulling any punches in his press conference today when he suggested certain quarters of the media have been driving a disrespectful agenda towards the club in recent weeks.
The Celtic boss cited the abuse towards Shane Duffy from certain quarters has been shocking and the poison coming from some is disrespectful.
Speaking today Neil Lennon was in no mood to suffer fools when asked about Shane Duffy:
“He needs to find his feet, really. It’s been quite a tumultuous start for him, I thought before the international break I thought he was settling in quite well. He’s just had a bumpy week, nothing more, nothing less, I’m not happy about the treatment he’s getting from certain quarters of the media. It’s totally unbalanced, unfair and hysterical. He made a mistake at the weekend.
“This constant banging of the drum for individual players, for me it’s unacceptable and it’s driven by certain quarters of the media. He’s a human being, he made a mistake he shouldn’t be hung out to dry for it and he has my full support.”
Neil Lennon then singled out a Kris Commons blog which branded Duffy a bomb scare among other things.
“Comments that he’s rank rotten and that he’s a bomb scare, you’ve seen it you know what I’m talking about. I find it ridiculous.
“I’ve seen millions of players come in here, take a bit of time to find their feet and go onto have a brilliant career. I’ve also seen players come in with big reputations and it hasn’t worked out for them, we’re hoping that’s not going to be the case for Shane. It’s my job to man manage Shane and he has my full support.
“Where all the hysteria has come from is beyond me but it’s something I can’t control. I think it’s media-driven by some people, but that’s ok, we can take all that. There’s a clear lack of respect for the players here, the management team, for the backroom team at the minute because of one bad week.
“I’m telling you it’s media-driven, there’s a narrative everybody wants to see a change, that’s fine, that’s just the way of the world. The poison comes from either social media, or picked up by you guys and put in your reports or articles or newspapers. It’s out there for people to clickbait.
“I can’t control that, what I can control is what goes on in the training ground. The players are solid, they’ve made a really good start to the season. This season, of all seasons, that’s for me, it’s another season, whether we’re going for our tenth title or our first title we want to win the title.”
The manager was clearly irked by comments made about his side in the aftermath of a bad week. Being only two points off what Celtic were this time last year and still chasing trophies, the manager is looking for perspective but has been around the blocks enough to know some have an agenda.
Social media, especially Twitter is a breeding ground for discontent where people feel almost obligated to be as severe and brutal as possible, especially after a defeat.
Measured criticism should always be welcome and debate is what keeps us going, the manager sees vitriol beyond that which is driving his annoyance.
Celtic still have a long way to go this season and have plenty of time to put their best foot forward, Celtic fans need to hold their nerve and remember this team have won so much over the years, they can dig things out when they need to and we hope that will be the case.
Quotes attributed to 90minuteCynic audio, transcribed by CeltsAreHere.com
