I just read today that he's had another death threat, and I know he's been getting them for many years, but I'm not actually quite sure why. I don't know too much about the sectarian side of things, but is it because he's a catholic who played for N. Ireland, or has he stirred the pot up himself?
He dosnt help himself at times by being a ned and attracting negative publicity with his antics on the touchline/ with players etc, but no-one deserves death threats. Part of it will be because he is a catholic brought up in N Ireland and managing Celtic. He does need to calm done and stop getting involved in every little arguement there is involving players/staff but fair play to him for carrying on playing/ managing Celtic while getting death threats and not letting they ars**oles who threaten him win.
He has been victimised his full Celtic career and not just from people from Northern Ireland a certain section of the Scottish support and media are just as bad. He has had to put up with years of abuse and death threats and getting assaulted in the street too and its not just him but his family who live in fear for their lives. He does snap at times in the Celtic dug out but that is just a lame excuse to label him an "animal" as they like to say over here as from his very first day signing from Celtic he was labelled some terrible things before he even kicked a ball.
I think his inexperience as a manager means he totally overreacts in situations where a manager should be trying to keep a calmer head, I hope and believe he will calm down with more managerial experience. He also obviously LOVES Celtic and his passion sometimes gets the better of him, he had been guilty of some way over the top behaviour on the touchline but i also think he has been the victim of deliberate wind ups. Death threats over a game of footie (even if it is an old firm game) is ridiculous.
Nosurname, manager of a very successful era for them, including part of 9iar. Adored by the press (where he is only known as Walter) and has rarely if ever had many problems. Lennon, less than a year in the job, couple of good results against them, has death threats, suspicious packages and now 24 hour protection. Still, its an old firm problem
This guy comes on here and asks about Neil Lennon and death threats and you attack Walter Smith ..Why ? Neil Lennon is not the first OF player/manager to receive death threats and he probably won't be the last . I take it by your last wee statement you think its an entirely Rangers problem . Was it Rangers fans that threatened Nacho Novo . Was it Rangers fans who have vandalized various Rangers players cars and houses . Ffs PVM you get more and more pro Celtic anti Rangers with each passing day . Time to come back to reality
Where did I attack him? Just pointed out the different "pressures" that the managers have to work under and attitudes from society and the press.
They are totally different people with totally different attitudes I fail to see how Walter Smith gets treated by the Scottish media has any bearing on Neil Lennon getting death threats . Also what society are you talking about that Neil Lennon gets death threats from . The morons that do this sort of thing are out with any decent society .
You are usually a reasoned Rangers poster who I look out for as you talk sense and can have a debate with. The current situation regarding Lennon is a joke and is endemic in Scottish society. There is no way in hell that the reason attacks and threats issued to Lennon would be tolerated if it was to say as a Scottish Rangers man. Its got to the point were this man is not able to travel back to Ireland tomorrow as a result of these threats
I don't think its being treated any different because it's Neil Lennon . Im sure the police are taking it just as serious as they would if it was a Rangers staff member receiving death threats . The last few occasions it's been front page news so the press are taking it serious . Who do you think is tolerating it . If the police catch these morons im sure they will be punished accordingly As for him being unable to travel back to NI . Well thats more to do with NI society than Scottish society .
How many threats now is that in the last few weeks even? I've never heard of the likes of it before. He was meant to be going to Donegal as the John Kennedy testimonial is on there tomorrow he was told not to for his own safety, it did not say where on the trip was the intelligence pointing to potential harm. Now we could be left in a position were he has to leave in the Summer for his own and his families safety, what happens the next time some of these morons don't like the next Celtic manager?
I totally agree with you this situation is disgraceful . I have said so every time this topic has been brought up . But what can you do , you cannot legislate for lunatics . We can only hope that the people behind this are found and the full weight of the law is brought to bare on them. This cannot be allowed to continue. Lennon is in no way to blame for this . Some suggest that he could tone down his actions as not to upset people . I find that ludicrous , it matters not a jot how Lennon acts these morons will be arseholes what ever Lennon does . As i said before he is not the first and won't be the last to be treated like this and its shameful .
I would have to agree with you that I would like to see Neil Lennon calm down more, but there's plenty of managers out there who are guilty of over the top behaviour Alan Pardew almost came to blows with arsene wenger a few years ago. Steve Bruce, Neil Warnock, and Jose Mourinho have also displayed over the top behaviour on the touchline.
Neil Lennon is somebody in football who I really dislike, as he seems intent on causing confrontations all the time but these death threats are disgusting. If I was Lennon I would walk away. Why put yourself through this kind of thing for football?
The point is though he shouldnt need to walk away. He should't be on the receiving end of this madness
Agree, but when your life/families lives are threatened it is a pretty brave decision to stay on. With the recent news that Mourinho's bodyguard was stabbed when Real came back through an airport, it must be pretty shaky a time for Lennon. Religion and Politics have no place in football. Time for the Old Firm clubs to get together and lead some sort of initiative to stamp it out.
Ex-celtic player Craig Burley has an article about this, where he writes: "FOR once the entire country is talking about Scottish football after Wednesday's Old Firm derby. For all the wrong reasons. The reaction to events at Parkhead has been astonishing. Everyone I've spoken to absolutely LOVED the Old Firm meltdown - apart from policemen and politicians! I lost count of how many normally sane English friends and colleagues told me they are already counting down the days to the Old Firm League Cup Final on March 20, following the madness. Scottish football - or the Old Firm at any rate - has become must-see TV in a freaky, 'Big Brother,' kind of way. Sadly it has more to do with their indiscipline than their football. How tragic is it that our top club game, the jewel in our crown, is now regarded as some kind of freak show? The outbreak of childish behaviour has overshadowed the good football we saw in the original tie at Ibrox, yet it turned Wednesday night's event into a nationwide smash hit. At times it was like watching a low-budget horror movie through the cracks in your fingers. You know exactly what's going to happen in every scene, yet you can't take your eyes off it. That's where we are right now with the Old Firm. In an ideal world people would drool over our biggest club game, as they do when Barcelona play Real Madrid, and praise us for our football. But people aren't tuning in to watch Paul McStay and Paolo Di Canio mixing it with Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup any more. They're tuning in to see El Hadji Diouf and Scott Brown and who kicks the s*** out of who first. It's a shame because Celtic actually have quality players like Izaguirre, Kayal and Hooper who look as if they could play at a higher level. The same could be said of McGregor, Bougherra and Naismith at Ibrox. But we seem to have reached a point after five Old Firm games this season where we're entertaining the public but p***ing off the police and politicians. It's always dangerous for football when those two bodies get involved. Salmond described the scenes at Parkhead as 'shameful.' This pair released Libyan mass-murderer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi As the entire country talks about the drama and passion involved, some copper's union chief has a totally different slant on it. He wants the fixture shut down or played behind closed doors. Call me cynical, but was it more than just a coincidence that Les Gray, Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, claimed police wouldn't have enough resources to cope with seven Old Firm matches this season three days before Home Secretary Theresa May told his members to expect a pay cut. Needless to say the copper's alarmist talk grabbed more headlines than Libya this week, which brings us not-so-nicely to our politicians. It's all kicking off in Tripoli and the Middle East is going up in flames. David Cameron had more on his plate than to concern himself with Wayne Rooney scudding James McCarthy with his elbow. But up here the First Minister Alex Salmond and his Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill are disgusted because Ally McCoist and Neil Lennon squared up to each other. Salmond described the scenes at Parkhead as 'shameful.' This pair released Libyan mass-murderer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the Pan Am Flight 103 bomb which killed 270 innocent people, and sent him home to a heroes welcome and a party in Tripoli! Now they're going to lecture Celtic and Rangers about the need to clean up THEIR act! It's not so long ago Glasgow was being described as the murder capital of western Europe. Knife crime remains a huge problem. Sectarianism and bigotry are rife in the west of Scotland. We drink too much, eat the wrong things, there's a drug culture and on top of that we take young impressionable children and send them to separate schools - then bleat about the poisonous religious divide in our society. Maybe if we solved some of those problems, most of the issues surrounding Old Firm games would cease. Instead, the politicians are going to put the world to rights by taking the Old Firm to task about their conduct! But they can't help themselves when they are presented with a high-profile opportunity to mouth their opinions. I wouldn't give tuppence for politicians getting involved in football. What sanity has John Reid brought to our game at Celtic by questioning referees' integrity and supporting Peter Wishart's ludicrous proposal that refs should publicly declare who they support? Lennon is crossing boundaries all over the place and upsetting a lot of previously reasonable people Reid also publicly branded Rangers 'Boring Holy Willies.' Has this former Home Secretary done anything to calm tensions ANYWHERE? Yet he has the power and authority to do some good by looking at his own club and recognising there is a problem with Neil Lennon. He has to ask why it is Lennon has become such a hated figure, to the extent he now requires round-the-clock protection and people are sending him bullets and fake bombs. Martin O'Neill was a Catholic who played for Nothern Ireland and went on to manage Celtic. He ticked many of the same boxes Lennon does, yet he was able to go about his business without the same level of animosity. In fact he was grudgingly admired by most Rangers fans. Why is Lennon so different? Whether he admits it or not I'm sure Walter Smith will have had a word with Ally McCoist now he's been confirmed as Gers' next boss. Lennon is crossing boundaries all over the place and upsetting a lot of previously reasonable people. Someone in power has to pull him aside, put a fatherly arm around his shoulder and give him some advice. They must remind him he is no longer a combatant in these games, he's the manager of Celtic and that comes with a whole lot of added responsibility. If a player is over-stepping the mark on the pitch and has lost the plot, it's a manager's job to pull him back in line. How can Lennon do that if he's racing to the touchline to square up to an opponent - even one as objectionable as El Hadji Diouf? Why does he continue to behave the way he does? It's not rocket science. It's because no one he respects in authority has told him not to. Right now no one in power at Celtic seems to be sounding the alarm about their manager's behaviour and warning him enough is enough, cut it out now. And until someone takes on that responsibility I'm not sure Lennon is capable of policing himself. "
If Lennon shouted racist abuse how come Diouf hasn't mentioned anything?, I don't think a volatile player like Diouf would put up with racist abuse.
