Neil Lennon yesterday claimed that 10IAR at Celtic was an “unhealthy obsession” for fans, but he was singing a different tune a year ago.
Lennon took part in his first extensive interview since leaving Celtic back in February over the weekend. In an exclusive with the Times, the former Hoops boss slammed the new breed of supporters with who he claimed he has nothing in common.
He would go on to state that 10iar was an unhealthy obsession – a slap in the face to supporters who understood the context and magnitude of the potential achievement.
However, the following is what Lennon said in 2020 after 9IAR was secured. Unsurprisingly, 10IAR was more of an obsession for the former Celtic manager himself than he would like to make out.
“I can’t believe I’m saying that”
As quoted by the Daily Record, Lennon said: “When we won the eighth one at Aberdeen last year, a lot of supporters were pre-empting going for 10, but you have to win nine first. I can now safely say we can go for the 10.
“I have been sitting on that for quite a while and thinking about it throughout the season. We have achieved that (nine) now and now we can go for the ten. I can’t believe I’m saying that. I remember in 2011 when we lost the league, saying it was just the beginning of something special. But I could never have envisaged how special it was going to be.
“We’ll go for the ten. It’s historic, it’s momentous, and it’s very special so we’d all like to do that.”
Neil Lennon knows what 10IAR meant; his failure to achieve it is on him
I’m like many fans. I don’t enjoy taking a pop at Neil Lennon. I try my best to remember all the good he’s done for the club over the years. But it’s so difficult to look beyond how he treated us this season. He was consistently dismissive of key concerns the supporters had, and was happy to see 10IAR blow up in our face so long as he held onto his job.
That was unforgivable. And now he’s out having a pop at a certain element of supporters. An element who he believes had an “unhealthy obsession” with 10IAR. Sure, if you had a long-held viewpoint on this and felt Celtic should’ve focused more on European growth, then that’s fair enough.
What irks me and many Celtic fans with these comments is that Lennon himself knew the importance of the 10. He himself had an obsession to achieve it. He stated last year that he effectively couldn’t stop thinking about it during the 9IAR success. It was on his mind just like it was on everyone else’s connected with Celtic.
Listen, take nothing away from the quadruple treble winners. That’s an absolutely insane era of dominance. Yes, it will probably go underappreciated too given the lust for 10. But that’s what meant more to supporters than anything. Fans would’ve taken losing every cup competition if it meant we won 10IAR. That’s what symbolised ultimate dominance and permanent bragging rights.
But I’m likely preaching to the converted here. It’s Lennon who clearly needs reminding just how much all of this meant to the fans. Brushing it off as “unhealthy” is a massive disservice to what that achievement reflected and meant for the football club and its supporters.
Lennon could’ve used his interview to apologise for everything that went wrong last season. To own up to his extensive failures and admit he’d let the Celtic fanbase down. Instead, he continues to distance himself from a support that has heard more than enough from him.
In other news, Celtic don’t appear to be in the running for a striker they were said to have bid £5.6m on.
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