There have been few more figures at Celtic who have been as beloved as Martin O’Neill by the majority of the fans. A lot of people consider the team under his management as the best one that they have seen. And while the club have continued to enjoy success in the domestic game, they are yet to reach the heights in Europe that they did during the Northern Irishman’s time at Parkhead, again.
One player who was vital to O’Neill’s Celtic side was Neil Lennon. He had starred for the manager at Leicester City and followed him to Parkhead in 2000.
Lennon would go on to achieve incredible successes as a player for Celtic and even became captain of the club. Then he would go on to guide the Hoops to a lot of silverware as manager as well, over his two stints in the Parkhead hot seat.
Yet, his Celtic career will always be associated with the disaster that was the 2020/21 campaign, as the club finished 25 points behind the Rangers in their attempt to capture 10IAR. O’Neill felt that some of the club’s fans were unfair to Lennon during this period of time though.
O’Neill feels Celtic fans were unfair with Lennon
As reported by The Scottish Sun, O’Neill said:
"“That last year at Celtic, it was difficult.“I make no apologies for this here – I am a fan of his, I really am.“Obviously that starts with what he did for me both at Leicester and Celtic and he has gone on and managed Celtic brilliantly.“I personally thought – and this might upset people – that the criticism he received grew arms and legs so quickly.“I try and think about it now. I was watching these things from a distance so I am not privy to absolutely everything at the time but I felt as if the Ten in a Row became everything, all-consuming.“I was surprised. I know social media can do anything it wants these days, and that’s fine, but I was surprised Celtic fans would be against him.“You might tell me that it was only a minority but the minority grew and grew. I felt for what he had done for the football club both as a player and a manager, I thought it was unfair.“Listen, if you don’t win and Ten in a Row becomes the Holy Grail and it doesn’t happen, there are different ways of doing it.“I just thought it was a bit unfair. However, when everything sorts itself out again, I honestly think the Celtic fans will realise he did really well.”"
One of the reasons a lot of Celtic fans did end up turning on Lennon was the fact that the club had known nothing but success for almost a decade. Thus, failure was something almost unthinkable and unfamiliar. Most people had thought that 10IAR was a mere formality.
There is no doubt that Lennon will go down as a Celtic legend, both as a player and a manager. But it might take some time for the wounds of that failed 10IAR campaign to heal, before he is truly celebrated for his achievements at the club again.