FORMER Celtic boss Neil Lennon has revealed he spoke to Russell Martin in the summer to warn him of the intense pressure that awaited him at Ibrox.
The Northen Irishman was a team-mate of the new Govan gaffer during his brief stint at Wycombe Wanderers as he would down his playing career in 2008.
Lennon, the only man to win a treble as a manager AND a player at Parkhead, reckons the campaign against Martin was unacceptable before he was sacked following the 1-1 draw with Falkirk on Sunday.
The former Scotland international central defender was axed after just 123 days in the post with a record of only five wins in 17 games and the struggling team floundering eighth in the Premiership, as CQN reported earlier in the week.
THE LONG WALK…Neil Lennon strides across the pitch after Celtic’s 1-0 loss to Ross County in Dingwall in February 2021 – his last game in charge of the Hoops.
The backlash from the furious supporters had been relentless before the American owners decided to bring an abrupt halt to the manager’s reign after he had signed a three-year contract in June.
Looking at the abuse his ex-colleague received in Govan, Lennon, now in charge at Championship outfit Dunfermline, said: “Horrendous, and I’m looking at the club… are the club doing more to safeguard him?
“You see him walking across the pitch (after Sunday’s draw).
“I’ve been there myself. He won’t be thinking about his own personal safety, he’ll be thinking about what he could have done better.
“It will be: ‘This is probably gone now, what could have gone better in the game?’
“In the emotion of it all, he’s probably not thinking about himself at the time.
“But he’ll probably have time now, to have a think about what went wrong for him and what he could have done better.
“But, he’s a human being. At the end of the day and, without sounding patronising, I really don’t like it.
“It’s not a good look for the Scottish game.
DERBY DAZE…Russell Martin on the touchline in front of the Celtic bench during the goalless draw at Ibrox in August.
“We can win, we can fail, it’s part of sport. It’s a competitive environment– no-one has a divine right to win everything.
“I know Rangers fans are maybe feeling it a bit, they’ve suffered a lot over the last four or five years due to what they would perceive as mismanaging by the club or just bad management.
“But it’s a culmination of things. It shouldn’t all be down to one person – and certainly he shouldn’t be treated in that way. It’s horrible.’
Lennon, in a report in the Scottish Sun, continued: “I don’t see any contract to get verbally abused by people, but, seemingly, people say it’s part of the job. Well, it shouldn’t be part of the job.
“Yes, you can voice your criticisms.
“But the vitriolic personal abuse constantly weaved at people, for you trying to do your job as best you can, it’s unacceptable.
“On a human level, I really felt for Russell.”
DEAD MAN TALKING…Russell Martin interviewed by the BBC after the 1-1 draw at Falkirk on Sunday before his sacking later that evening.
Lennon, who caught up with Martin in the summer, added: “We brought a team down to play a behind closed doors game at Murray Park.
“He was just sort of, really settling into it, probably didn’t know what he was coming into.
“So, I tried to give him a few tit-bits on that. He’s a good guy.
“I’ve been here for 25 years, I’ve seen other managers lose the league by 17, 18, 19, 20 points, not win a trophy – but NEVER hounded out, never a baying mob chasing them or humiliating them in the public arena.
“What happened to Russell is real, it’s physical and it’s abusive.
“It’s just not right.”
