Neil, the 10 and the rest of us

On five different occasions I told one of the two men who decide the fate of the Celtic manager that I thought it was time for a change.  Memorably, on one occasion, I was told, “Get a grip of yourself”.  I did not always get a response as, despite how I feel about Celtic, a manager’s fate is a private matter.

On none of those occasions did I write on CQN that the manager should be sacked.  If I was an impartial observer, that would be different, but my objective is always to see Celtic flourish and I considered the effect a campaign to sack the manager would have on results, our league challenge and, in on one occasion, the man himself.

The impact of these campaigns falls disproportionately on that individual, often when they are at their most emotionally vulnerable.  It hurts when those once close to you want you out, you look harder for motivation and as for focussing a dressing room!

Those who make the decisions are less emotionally vulnerable.  They usually have years of experience shielding themselves from being buffered by adverse sentiment, if they didn’t, they would not be able to do the job.  They alone know their options and they are never blind to the consequences of failure.  They do not always get it right.

We cannot show our support for the players or the manager at games and they will not be meeting fans in the street; all sentiment is delivered by media, new and old.  This is the only communication we have and I know the players consume what is written online this season.  This sentiment is not to blame for bad results, but it will not help resolve the situation.

Celtic are low percentage bets to win the league and I want the players, manager and board to take whatever steps necessary to change this, it is not too late. Nothing would give me more pleasure than Neil Lennon bringing us 10-in-a-row, it would be the ultimate way to achieve an historic record.  If he gets there, the rest of us will have a role in making it happen.