Celtic manager Neil Lennon made some post-match comments last night that just about nobody would agree with.
He stated to the club’s official media channel that the Hoops were “brilliant” in our 2-2 draw at Livingston. He was full of praise for his players despite it being a display lacking in creative spark.
Many will have been surprised at Lennon using such glowing terms to describe his troops. However, this isn’t simply a manager reviewing a game of football. What it actually was is something that has helped Lennon be so successful in his managerial career – man-management skills.
There’s very little chance that the Hoops boss enjoyed much of our performance last night. But they battled to get a draw at a tough venue when we looked beat. It was a point that stretched our lead at the top of the Premiership to 13 points. He was never, ever going to come out and criticise his players for it.
What we saw from Lennon last night wasn’t an honest assessment of the game. It was simply a morale-boosting exercise that he’s used so often in the past even when we haven’t gotten the right result. For example, look back to the 2-1 loss to Rangers at Parkhead when we were clearly second-best on the day. Lennon didn’t go through the players, instead he said we didn’t deserve to lose and blamed fatigue instead (Sky Sports).
Lennon is fully aware of what he’s doing
He did something similar last week against Copenhagen. Lennon refused to throw the players under the bus and stated that we deserved to get back into the game (BBC).
Compare that to Lennon’s main rival – Rangers manager Steven Gerrard. After their first domestic loss of 2020 against Hearts, he went through his players and labeled them “unrecognisable” and “passengers” (BBC). Never in a million years would you see Lennon say something similar about his players. Not these days, and certainly not after winning a derby just two or three games ago.
Since Gerrard threw his players under the bus, Rangers have gone on to lose to Kilmarnock and Hamilton whilst drawing against Aberdeen and St Johnstone respectively. That’s also not including their Scottish Cup exit to Hearts last week.
Lennon’s protection of his players is showing up Gerrard’s over-the-top criticism. It’s no surprise they’re going from disaster to disaster with their manager questioning them and clearly having a lack of trust in them on a weekly basis. His comments have added to the pressure by degrading their image in the media.
Lennon, to his credit, is clearly more media-savvy. What we’re seeing here is one manager schooling the other in man-management. Gerrard was always a phenomenal footballer, but he’s never been a manager before now.
So it’s vital not to take Lennon’s comments too seriously. He knows what he’s doing, and the consistency of this side has proven it.
What do you make of Neil Lennon’s consistently positive approach to media duties? Is he schooling Steven Gerrard on how to conduct himself as a manager? Give us your verdict in the discussion forum below.
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