SamTeàrlachH
Well-known member
Everyone will now be familiar with the controversy regarding Scott Brown's alleged 'slip' when he 'liked' a tweet criticising Neil Lennon for playing Callum McGregor at left-back and benching Christopher Jullien. The tweet called out Brown by name to 'say to Lennon he's to blame' for the catastrophic home loss to Cluj.
Despite his claims otherwise and his explanation/apology, we all know Scott Brown didn't accidentally 'like' that tweet. Not even taking into the account the old Freudian slip phenomenon, it's beyond obvious that even Scott Brown, a man who has praised and backed Lenny 100% since he took over from BR, realises that the manager was badly out of his depth the other night.
I supported Lennon as Celtic manager when he was appointed, given the other targets people were highlighting were absolutely unrealistic (Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Andre Villas-Boas etc.), but also because I think he's a good manager. After his first stint at Celtic, while I must confess to not seeing a solitary game of his ill-fated spell at Bolton, I thought he had Hibernian playing fantastic football. I still support Lennon. But if even Scott Brown is not 'turning' on the manager, as has been the implication of the press who have covered this, but rather publicly admitting to the manager's culpability, it means Celtic probably have a discordant dressing room environment. Even if it's silently discordant, we can only assume that Brown's 'slip' is a product of something akin to a rudderless ship. Or a ship without a captain.
Neil Lennon is a natural leader, but he's always been slightly suspect tactically. You hardly need any more proof of this after the Cluj fiasco. But his one strength, which his leadership and control over the team which he nominally presides over, is I think being undermined by the behaviour of Peter Lawwell. If Lennon doesn't have control over signings and if he isn't being given the necessary funds, and we're not talking bank-breaking figures here, to shape his own team, we have to ask ourselves if Lenny isn't just a manager in name only. That's probably taking it too far, but the bizarre events that are swirling around our club, in what should be a time of exceptional triumph and optimism, must have a source. Determining and isolating that source, or sources, is of course half the battle for us supporters.
But why did Scott Brown like that tweet to begin with? Think about the psychology behind it. He clearly felt like the manager wasn't taking responsibility for the defeat. And he was right. I hate to say it, but Lenny's comments since the defeat have been verging on the comical in terms of his lack of self-criticism. Not one iota of self-awareness regarding playing CalMac at left-back. And it's clear that he's blamed the players in the dressing room too. That's why Scott Brown 'liked' the tweet blaming Lenny.
You've got a manager who feels undermined at every turn and is asked to perform tasks according to a now self-defeating, obstructionist business model, which is leading to a crisis in his authority and possibly confidence (the Cluj fiasco was either evident of a manager who took the Romanian team lightly, or who didn't know how to take them at all), and you've got players who are going to feel as if everything is being put on them. You can only imagine what all this has done to the confidence of the already shaky (though I thought he was visibly improving as every minute ticked by at Motherwell) Boli Bolingoli - you can only imagine how bewildered Christopher Jullien is by it all.
Despite his claims otherwise and his explanation/apology, we all know Scott Brown didn't accidentally 'like' that tweet. Not even taking into the account the old Freudian slip phenomenon, it's beyond obvious that even Scott Brown, a man who has praised and backed Lenny 100% since he took over from BR, realises that the manager was badly out of his depth the other night.
I supported Lennon as Celtic manager when he was appointed, given the other targets people were highlighting were absolutely unrealistic (Mourinho, Rafa Benitez, Andre Villas-Boas etc.), but also because I think he's a good manager. After his first stint at Celtic, while I must confess to not seeing a solitary game of his ill-fated spell at Bolton, I thought he had Hibernian playing fantastic football. I still support Lennon. But if even Scott Brown is not 'turning' on the manager, as has been the implication of the press who have covered this, but rather publicly admitting to the manager's culpability, it means Celtic probably have a discordant dressing room environment. Even if it's silently discordant, we can only assume that Brown's 'slip' is a product of something akin to a rudderless ship. Or a ship without a captain.
Neil Lennon is a natural leader, but he's always been slightly suspect tactically. You hardly need any more proof of this after the Cluj fiasco. But his one strength, which his leadership and control over the team which he nominally presides over, is I think being undermined by the behaviour of Peter Lawwell. If Lennon doesn't have control over signings and if he isn't being given the necessary funds, and we're not talking bank-breaking figures here, to shape his own team, we have to ask ourselves if Lenny isn't just a manager in name only. That's probably taking it too far, but the bizarre events that are swirling around our club, in what should be a time of exceptional triumph and optimism, must have a source. Determining and isolating that source, or sources, is of course half the battle for us supporters.
But why did Scott Brown like that tweet to begin with? Think about the psychology behind it. He clearly felt like the manager wasn't taking responsibility for the defeat. And he was right. I hate to say it, but Lenny's comments since the defeat have been verging on the comical in terms of his lack of self-criticism. Not one iota of self-awareness regarding playing CalMac at left-back. And it's clear that he's blamed the players in the dressing room too. That's why Scott Brown 'liked' the tweet blaming Lenny.
You've got a manager who feels undermined at every turn and is asked to perform tasks according to a now self-defeating, obstructionist business model, which is leading to a crisis in his authority and possibly confidence (the Cluj fiasco was either evident of a manager who took the Romanian team lightly, or who didn't know how to take them at all), and you've got players who are going to feel as if everything is being put on them. You can only imagine what all this has done to the confidence of the already shaky (though I thought he was visibly improving as every minute ticked by at Motherwell) Boli Bolingoli - you can only imagine how bewildered Christopher Jullien is by it all.