lfc4ever
05-05-07, 03:42 AM
An interesting article on footballing bigotry that still blights the Old Firm:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article1750065.ece
May 5, 2007
Lennon will bow out but the bigots still remain
Graham Spiers
At Ibrox this afternoon, one of the greatest love-hate relationships in the history of Scottish football reaches its conclusion. Neil Lennon, the Celtic captain, will play at the home of Rangers for the last time.
I call it “a love-hate occasion” because, while Lennon loves playing there, the Rangers fans hate him.
The phenomenon of Lennon’s experience in Scotland has told us much about Scottish football, and quite a bit about Scottish society, too. It is silly and even dangerous to extract sociological conclusions out of the maw of the football arena but, that caveat duly noted, what has happened to Lennon since he signed for Celtic in November 2000 has been sobering.
You wouldn’t have thought it possible in the 21st Century that a footballer could be so abused because he represented Northern Irish Roman Catholicism.
Lennon is no angel. In seven years in Scotland he has been no idle pacifist. On occasions, in particular at Ibrox, his behaviour has been appalling, none more so than on that afternoon in August 2005 when he so lost the plot after being sent off by the referee, Stuart Dougal, that he very nearly slugged the match official as he stomped off the pitch. In that moment of red mist, rarely have Celtic been so humiliated by the antics of a captain.
Lennon is from Lurgan, he is a street-fighter. He grew up in an environment in which he belonged to a persecuted minority, and he learnt how to react to adversity. On the football field this can exhibit itself in some very uncaptain-like antics, such as his frequent middle-fingered gestures to abusing opposition supporters. So if anyone wants to defend Lennon’s case, they needn’t draw comparisons with Mother Theresa, because there aren’t any. He is no beseecher of peace and tranquillity.
Yet his experience of bigotry in Scotland has been eye-opening. It started first of all when he had to stop playing for Northern Ireland following the abuse he received at Windsor Park after signing for Celtic. That, in itself, was telling: such opprobrium had never been an issue for Lennon while he was a player for Leicester City. But, come his arrival in Glasgow, and his donning of the green-and-white hooped shirt of Celtic, one of sport’s most visible symbols of the Catholic tradition... now that was different.
The rancour that subsequently forced Lennon to stop playing for Northern Ireland didn’t stop with his international retirement. It followed him to Scotland and to his club career at Celtic, and, in particular, into the seething saga of the Old Firm.
I have always maintained that no one’s heart need bleed for Lennon. He has loved his football career and enjoyed many remarkable highs, and occasions such as today at Ibrox, where the abuse will rain on him, is something he relishes. To any proud Scot, though, it is embarrassing to witness the bigoted abuse at these games. Notwithstanding the fact that football crowds often indulge in empty, ritual chanting, it is disturbing that Scotland should still house so many serious bigots in the modern day and age.
Actually, that last comment needs qualifying. The bigotry issue in Scotland is greatly improving, and anyone who vehemently denies this must be strangely besotted with the idea of a permanently-benighted nation. But what the Lennon experience has proved is that enough bigots are still around for the Scottish Executive to have been utterly justified in making antisectarianism measures a central plank of its recent policy.
It has been an embarrassment for Rangers, in particular. The abuse of Lennon was a contributory cause of the club eventually being punished for bigotry by Uefa in May 2006, and Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, has unveiled initiative upon initiative to try to arrest the problem among the club’s supporters.
Two days ago, in what is now almost a tedious routine, Uefa fined Rangers for the second time in 12 months for sectarian chanting. No one, let it be said, is more frustrated by the blight than those ordinary, decent Rangers fans whose sole agenda is their love of their team.
The one delicious irony about Lennon as a personality – not that you would know it from the pitch – is that he is a highly likeable man. It has caused me no end of mirth to point out to Rangers-supporting friends that, while they detest the Celtic captain on the field, they would actually really like him were they ever to unexpectedly share a pint with him.
One of football’s endless intrigues is the way in which a player on the field and the same man in his civvies can seem like two different people, and Lennon is one such case. He is one of the most affable blokes you could meet.
I hope they give him a fond send-off at Ibrox today. Lennon will certainly be hoping that they do.
And from the heart:
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.1376799.0.lennon_follows_his_gut_insti nct.php
Lennon follows his gut instinct
by Ronnie Cully
NEIL LENNON won't know for three or four months if he has made the right decision to leave Celtic.
But the man who plays his final Old Firm game at Ibrox tomorrow already accepts he is never going to be as happy in football again as during seven trophy-laden seasons at Parkhead.
The Celtic captain wants to bring the curtain down on his time in Paradise with one last victory over Rangers, and by lifting the Tennent's Scottish Cup at Hampden in three weeks.
advertisement
Lennon can anticipate a very warm send-off from the light blue brigade.
But he is determined to go out with his head held high and cut his ties with Celtic now rather than risk ruining his special relationship with the fans.
The reality of his decision to move on is hitting home for the 35-year-old, who said: "You never know until three or four months down the line if it's the right thing to do or not.
"But you go with your gut instinct, and that says it is time to go. It's very important to leave on a high. A lot of people stay too long with the club and eventually fester.
"I'm leaving with a lot of great memories, and the fans are going to be left with a lot of great memories of me. That's the way I wanted it, and I'm doing it on my terms."
Lennon continued: "I did most of my crying last week when I made my decision to leave.
"It will be tough because you have given seven years of your life to the club. When you play for Celtic, you are more or less married to the club. You eat, sleep and drink it.
"It's been a very intense period in my life, but very fulfilling.
"I've enjoyed the majority of it, and when I look back on the playing side of things and the trophies I've won, I will walk away with a real sense of pride and satisfaction."
What has given Lennon more satisfaction than anything is the fact he helped turn Celtic from a club trailing a poor second to Rangers in the pursuit of trophies to one which has dominated the championship since his arrival in December 2000.
His personal haul is 10 winner's medals, and he told Celtic TV: "I never imagined I'd be here so long or be so successful.
"When I arrived I signed a four-year contract, and I wanted to fulfil that side of things. Then, when Gordon Strachan came in, I got an extension for the next two seasons.
"But, as for the success side of things, when I first came to the club it was just to catch Rangers, really.
"We did that in spades the first season, winning the Treble, and the league by some distance.
"In the European scene, we have had some tremendous nights in the Champions League and in the Uefa Cup.
"So, all in all, it has all been well beyond expectations."
And finally, on Lennon's career at Celtic:
http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.1379255.0.0.php
Starry-eyed Lennon tracked The Bear to Celtic
DARRYL BROADFOOT May 05 2007
Neil Lennon looked up to Roy Aitken. Literally. Their first meeting was borne out of a mutual appreciation of sorts. Lennon was 15 and was presented the first of many accolades by the then Celtic captain at the Belfast Celtic Boys' Club player-of-the-year awards.
This stocky schoolkid with the fiery red thicket of hair gazed in awe at Aitken with his intense green eyes. Even then, long before his adventure began across the Irish Sea, Lennon harboured aspirations of emulating the most passionate and committed of Celtic captains.
Twenty years on, he will bid a predictably raucous farewell to Old Firm confrontation having fulfiled his wildest dreams, and then some. Five league championships, possibly four Tennent's Scottish Cups and two of the CIS Insurance variety represents an unimaginable six-and-a-half-year haul of trophies.
advertisement
Yesterday, Aitken recalled his first meeting with a teenage Northern Irishman whose adventures at Celtic Park reflected his own. "I remember presenting him with his first trophy," he said. "That would have been 20 years ago and even then he was a mad Celtic fan. We went over every year to help bring their players on and they always loved seeing their heroes.
"His contribution to Celtic has been first class. He has led by example and wears his heart on his sleeve. His contribution to Celtic's overall success has been outstanding. He has presided over a fantastic period of dominance. Although I played over a longer period of time at the club, Neil has crammed a lot of silverware into such a short period."
Aitken revelled in the frightful monicker, The Bear, and not without some justification. A monstrous midfield ball-winner, his snarl alone was enough to unravel his opponents. He was equally imposing at centre-back and, like Lennon, drew extra motivation from the unpopularity his hatcheting style was afforded by rival fans - Rangers' prominent among them - and, of course, the referees whose hard-line approach almost drove Aitken out of Parkhead.
"Of course he has had to deal with stuff off the field and he was given a hard time by a lot of supporters away from Celtic Park, but when you start pleasing the opposing fans, then it's something to worry about," said Aitken. "I think he will be respected no matter how they respond in public. He always gives 100% and I'm sure they are thinking I wish I had him in my team'."
The reasons for Lennon's decision not to negotiate another one-year deal are multi-fold. Predominantly, he has achieved all he is likely to at Celtic. Reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League was a watershed. He has listened to his body but so, too, the increasingly audible grumblings of discontent from a section of the supporters who perceive his lack of pace to be responsible for Celtic's lack of gusto.
It is a familiar complaint. Aitken was 31 when he elected to leave Celtic. The reasons for his departure remain sketchy but among them was undoubtedly a hurtful criticism from unforgiving quarters of the media. Today, he refers to them collectively as "professional and private reasons" but they did not dampen his enthusiasm for the game.
Indeed, Aitken went on to enjoy the brief adulation of the Toon Army at Newcastle and captained Scotland in World Cup Italia 90. He can appreciate Lennon's desire not to become an ageing relic or a mere symbol of success.
"He has left tactfully and respectfully," said Aitken, now a coach in Alex McLeish's Scotland set-up. "There are many different reasons. Firstly, you leave for football reasons but there may be other outside influences within that. Sometimes he may have thought what's the point?' when the criticism was at its worst. Sometimes you think you need a fresh challenge or a change of scenery.
"I got sent off in the 1984 Scottish Cup final and in the dressing room I was thinking wait a minute, is it time to leave?' I was convinced the referees were being harsh on me and though about a change but you bounce back quickly. You ask what's best for your career and Neil will have done the same.
"I went on to play for Newcastle and captain my country at the World Cup but the timing was right professionally and personally. You have to strike the right balance between your career and your family. Neil can carry on in the Premiership if he wants to. I wanted to leave on a high, you don't want to lose your impact on the team. He has finished his career where he would have dreamed of finishing it."
Lennon is not for slipping out quietly. Ibrox has been the scene of some of his most combative and controversial moments. Yet he has forged a mutual admiration with Barry Ferguson, the Rangers captain, which has been received suspiciously by dim-witted fans on either side who believe never the twain shall meet. They will engage today with added spice, Lennon driven to sign-off with a victory, and Ferguson determined to inspire a win that Rangers hope will point to a stronger challenge next season.
"It means so much in Scotland, especially to the fans who want the bragging rights," said Aitken. "I played in more than 50 of them and the last one was as enjoyable as the first. You always had an added incentive to win them and Neil's is even greater now he knows it will be his last. He has always had a good relationship with the fans; he's their type of player and they know how big a privilege it is for him to play for Celtic.
"Old Firm games, nine times out of 10, are the ones that meant winning or losing trophies. In my day, there were maybe three or four teams competing at the top end but the Old Firm derbies have become even more significant now."
In his new role alongside McLeish and Andy Watson, Aitken is heartened by the growing number of Scottish players participating in a derby that not so long ago was dominated by high-price foreigners. Tomorrow, Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell, Kenny Miller, Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley and possibly also John Kennedy could feature for Celtic, while Walter Smith's side is likely to include Allan McGregor, Alan Hutton, Charlie Adam, David Weir, Kevin Thomson, Ferguson and Kris Boyd.
"In recent years there has been a huge influx of foreign players but the fact that Rangers and Celtic have promoted home-based players has definitely helped our cause," he said, with Scotland still fighting in European Championship qualification Group B.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article1750065.ece
May 5, 2007
Lennon will bow out but the bigots still remain
Graham Spiers
At Ibrox this afternoon, one of the greatest love-hate relationships in the history of Scottish football reaches its conclusion. Neil Lennon, the Celtic captain, will play at the home of Rangers for the last time.
I call it “a love-hate occasion” because, while Lennon loves playing there, the Rangers fans hate him.
The phenomenon of Lennon’s experience in Scotland has told us much about Scottish football, and quite a bit about Scottish society, too. It is silly and even dangerous to extract sociological conclusions out of the maw of the football arena but, that caveat duly noted, what has happened to Lennon since he signed for Celtic in November 2000 has been sobering.
You wouldn’t have thought it possible in the 21st Century that a footballer could be so abused because he represented Northern Irish Roman Catholicism.
Lennon is no angel. In seven years in Scotland he has been no idle pacifist. On occasions, in particular at Ibrox, his behaviour has been appalling, none more so than on that afternoon in August 2005 when he so lost the plot after being sent off by the referee, Stuart Dougal, that he very nearly slugged the match official as he stomped off the pitch. In that moment of red mist, rarely have Celtic been so humiliated by the antics of a captain.
Lennon is from Lurgan, he is a street-fighter. He grew up in an environment in which he belonged to a persecuted minority, and he learnt how to react to adversity. On the football field this can exhibit itself in some very uncaptain-like antics, such as his frequent middle-fingered gestures to abusing opposition supporters. So if anyone wants to defend Lennon’s case, they needn’t draw comparisons with Mother Theresa, because there aren’t any. He is no beseecher of peace and tranquillity.
Yet his experience of bigotry in Scotland has been eye-opening. It started first of all when he had to stop playing for Northern Ireland following the abuse he received at Windsor Park after signing for Celtic. That, in itself, was telling: such opprobrium had never been an issue for Lennon while he was a player for Leicester City. But, come his arrival in Glasgow, and his donning of the green-and-white hooped shirt of Celtic, one of sport’s most visible symbols of the Catholic tradition... now that was different.
The rancour that subsequently forced Lennon to stop playing for Northern Ireland didn’t stop with his international retirement. It followed him to Scotland and to his club career at Celtic, and, in particular, into the seething saga of the Old Firm.
I have always maintained that no one’s heart need bleed for Lennon. He has loved his football career and enjoyed many remarkable highs, and occasions such as today at Ibrox, where the abuse will rain on him, is something he relishes. To any proud Scot, though, it is embarrassing to witness the bigoted abuse at these games. Notwithstanding the fact that football crowds often indulge in empty, ritual chanting, it is disturbing that Scotland should still house so many serious bigots in the modern day and age.
Actually, that last comment needs qualifying. The bigotry issue in Scotland is greatly improving, and anyone who vehemently denies this must be strangely besotted with the idea of a permanently-benighted nation. But what the Lennon experience has proved is that enough bigots are still around for the Scottish Executive to have been utterly justified in making antisectarianism measures a central plank of its recent policy.
It has been an embarrassment for Rangers, in particular. The abuse of Lennon was a contributory cause of the club eventually being punished for bigotry by Uefa in May 2006, and Martin Bain, the Rangers chief executive, has unveiled initiative upon initiative to try to arrest the problem among the club’s supporters.
Two days ago, in what is now almost a tedious routine, Uefa fined Rangers for the second time in 12 months for sectarian chanting. No one, let it be said, is more frustrated by the blight than those ordinary, decent Rangers fans whose sole agenda is their love of their team.
The one delicious irony about Lennon as a personality – not that you would know it from the pitch – is that he is a highly likeable man. It has caused me no end of mirth to point out to Rangers-supporting friends that, while they detest the Celtic captain on the field, they would actually really like him were they ever to unexpectedly share a pint with him.
One of football’s endless intrigues is the way in which a player on the field and the same man in his civvies can seem like two different people, and Lennon is one such case. He is one of the most affable blokes you could meet.
I hope they give him a fond send-off at Ibrox today. Lennon will certainly be hoping that they do.
And from the heart:
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/display.var.1376799.0.lennon_follows_his_gut_insti nct.php
Lennon follows his gut instinct
by Ronnie Cully
NEIL LENNON won't know for three or four months if he has made the right decision to leave Celtic.
But the man who plays his final Old Firm game at Ibrox tomorrow already accepts he is never going to be as happy in football again as during seven trophy-laden seasons at Parkhead.
The Celtic captain wants to bring the curtain down on his time in Paradise with one last victory over Rangers, and by lifting the Tennent's Scottish Cup at Hampden in three weeks.
advertisement
Lennon can anticipate a very warm send-off from the light blue brigade.
But he is determined to go out with his head held high and cut his ties with Celtic now rather than risk ruining his special relationship with the fans.
The reality of his decision to move on is hitting home for the 35-year-old, who said: "You never know until three or four months down the line if it's the right thing to do or not.
"But you go with your gut instinct, and that says it is time to go. It's very important to leave on a high. A lot of people stay too long with the club and eventually fester.
"I'm leaving with a lot of great memories, and the fans are going to be left with a lot of great memories of me. That's the way I wanted it, and I'm doing it on my terms."
Lennon continued: "I did most of my crying last week when I made my decision to leave.
"It will be tough because you have given seven years of your life to the club. When you play for Celtic, you are more or less married to the club. You eat, sleep and drink it.
"It's been a very intense period in my life, but very fulfilling.
"I've enjoyed the majority of it, and when I look back on the playing side of things and the trophies I've won, I will walk away with a real sense of pride and satisfaction."
What has given Lennon more satisfaction than anything is the fact he helped turn Celtic from a club trailing a poor second to Rangers in the pursuit of trophies to one which has dominated the championship since his arrival in December 2000.
His personal haul is 10 winner's medals, and he told Celtic TV: "I never imagined I'd be here so long or be so successful.
"When I arrived I signed a four-year contract, and I wanted to fulfil that side of things. Then, when Gordon Strachan came in, I got an extension for the next two seasons.
"But, as for the success side of things, when I first came to the club it was just to catch Rangers, really.
"We did that in spades the first season, winning the Treble, and the league by some distance.
"In the European scene, we have had some tremendous nights in the Champions League and in the Uefa Cup.
"So, all in all, it has all been well beyond expectations."
And finally, on Lennon's career at Celtic:
http://www.theherald.co.uk/sport/headlines/display.var.1379255.0.0.php
Starry-eyed Lennon tracked The Bear to Celtic
DARRYL BROADFOOT May 05 2007
Neil Lennon looked up to Roy Aitken. Literally. Their first meeting was borne out of a mutual appreciation of sorts. Lennon was 15 and was presented the first of many accolades by the then Celtic captain at the Belfast Celtic Boys' Club player-of-the-year awards.
This stocky schoolkid with the fiery red thicket of hair gazed in awe at Aitken with his intense green eyes. Even then, long before his adventure began across the Irish Sea, Lennon harboured aspirations of emulating the most passionate and committed of Celtic captains.
Twenty years on, he will bid a predictably raucous farewell to Old Firm confrontation having fulfiled his wildest dreams, and then some. Five league championships, possibly four Tennent's Scottish Cups and two of the CIS Insurance variety represents an unimaginable six-and-a-half-year haul of trophies.
advertisement
Yesterday, Aitken recalled his first meeting with a teenage Northern Irishman whose adventures at Celtic Park reflected his own. "I remember presenting him with his first trophy," he said. "That would have been 20 years ago and even then he was a mad Celtic fan. We went over every year to help bring their players on and they always loved seeing their heroes.
"His contribution to Celtic has been first class. He has led by example and wears his heart on his sleeve. His contribution to Celtic's overall success has been outstanding. He has presided over a fantastic period of dominance. Although I played over a longer period of time at the club, Neil has crammed a lot of silverware into such a short period."
Aitken revelled in the frightful monicker, The Bear, and not without some justification. A monstrous midfield ball-winner, his snarl alone was enough to unravel his opponents. He was equally imposing at centre-back and, like Lennon, drew extra motivation from the unpopularity his hatcheting style was afforded by rival fans - Rangers' prominent among them - and, of course, the referees whose hard-line approach almost drove Aitken out of Parkhead.
"Of course he has had to deal with stuff off the field and he was given a hard time by a lot of supporters away from Celtic Park, but when you start pleasing the opposing fans, then it's something to worry about," said Aitken. "I think he will be respected no matter how they respond in public. He always gives 100% and I'm sure they are thinking I wish I had him in my team'."
The reasons for Lennon's decision not to negotiate another one-year deal are multi-fold. Predominantly, he has achieved all he is likely to at Celtic. Reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League was a watershed. He has listened to his body but so, too, the increasingly audible grumblings of discontent from a section of the supporters who perceive his lack of pace to be responsible for Celtic's lack of gusto.
It is a familiar complaint. Aitken was 31 when he elected to leave Celtic. The reasons for his departure remain sketchy but among them was undoubtedly a hurtful criticism from unforgiving quarters of the media. Today, he refers to them collectively as "professional and private reasons" but they did not dampen his enthusiasm for the game.
Indeed, Aitken went on to enjoy the brief adulation of the Toon Army at Newcastle and captained Scotland in World Cup Italia 90. He can appreciate Lennon's desire not to become an ageing relic or a mere symbol of success.
"He has left tactfully and respectfully," said Aitken, now a coach in Alex McLeish's Scotland set-up. "There are many different reasons. Firstly, you leave for football reasons but there may be other outside influences within that. Sometimes he may have thought what's the point?' when the criticism was at its worst. Sometimes you think you need a fresh challenge or a change of scenery.
"I got sent off in the 1984 Scottish Cup final and in the dressing room I was thinking wait a minute, is it time to leave?' I was convinced the referees were being harsh on me and though about a change but you bounce back quickly. You ask what's best for your career and Neil will have done the same.
"I went on to play for Newcastle and captain my country at the World Cup but the timing was right professionally and personally. You have to strike the right balance between your career and your family. Neil can carry on in the Premiership if he wants to. I wanted to leave on a high, you don't want to lose your impact on the team. He has finished his career where he would have dreamed of finishing it."
Lennon is not for slipping out quietly. Ibrox has been the scene of some of his most combative and controversial moments. Yet he has forged a mutual admiration with Barry Ferguson, the Rangers captain, which has been received suspiciously by dim-witted fans on either side who believe never the twain shall meet. They will engage today with added spice, Lennon driven to sign-off with a victory, and Ferguson determined to inspire a win that Rangers hope will point to a stronger challenge next season.
"It means so much in Scotland, especially to the fans who want the bragging rights," said Aitken. "I played in more than 50 of them and the last one was as enjoyable as the first. You always had an added incentive to win them and Neil's is even greater now he knows it will be his last. He has always had a good relationship with the fans; he's their type of player and they know how big a privilege it is for him to play for Celtic.
"Old Firm games, nine times out of 10, are the ones that meant winning or losing trophies. In my day, there were maybe three or four teams competing at the top end but the Old Firm derbies have become even more significant now."
In his new role alongside McLeish and Andy Watson, Aitken is heartened by the growing number of Scottish players participating in a derby that not so long ago was dominated by high-price foreigners. Tomorrow, Stephen McManus, Gary Caldwell, Kenny Miller, Steven Pressley, Paul Hartley and possibly also John Kennedy could feature for Celtic, while Walter Smith's side is likely to include Allan McGregor, Alan Hutton, Charlie Adam, David Weir, Kevin Thomson, Ferguson and Kris Boyd.
"In recent years there has been a huge influx of foreign players but the fact that Rangers and Celtic have promoted home-based players has definitely helped our cause," he said, with Scotland still fighting in European Championship qualification Group B.