Today's Scotland on Sunday

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"Ultimately, the targeting of Lennon doesn't come down to his personality. His bolshiness and bad-mouthing in the heat of battle are, away from games, underpinned - and so undercut - by an impressive intelligence and articulacy. It is a consequence, pure and simple, of his being an unapologetic, successful Northern Irish Catholic in a country where there is a virulent anti-Catholic strain among a section of the Rangers support." - Andrew Smith

Scotland must ask itself why it seems to tolerate the campaign of hatred against Neil Lennon

BEYOND the issue of how long Neil Lennon can possibly put up with a daily existence in which his freedom and safety, and those of his family, are being challenged lie deeply uncomfortable questions. How have we tolerated the fomenting of such hatred for so long to have brought us to this point? And what does it say about our society?

The bullets in the post in January that were followed by a fake nail bomb this month have taken the death threats and intimidation against Lennon to unprecedented levels for any public figure in this country.

Safe-houses and 24-hour surveillance have become necessities for the security of the Celtic manager, his partner and their five-year-old son. But such grotesque developments are in keeping with the disfiguring of ordinary life Lennon has had to contend with during his 11 years in Scotland. It has escalated now because his position has been elevated. It has always been there, though, and manifested itself in street assaults that have brought convictions for the culprits, sectarian slogans being daubed on roads, his retirement from playing for Northern Ireland after a paramilitary death threat received by the BBC and constant vile, viral hate crimes.

The internet, indeed, as pinpointed by both his lawyer Paul McBride and First Minister Alex Salmond this week, is now recognised as the cesspit in which too much verbal savagery has been allowed to stew for too long. Yet, what truly disturbs is not the evidence of Facebook groups such as Hunt Down Neil Lennon And Shoot Him, Let's Hang Neil Lennon but what masquerades as acceptable comment on the 39-year-old in various forums.

An "ah, but" element creeps in to justify the treatment of Lennon: "Ah, but, even though no-one should have to deal with death threats, he brings it on himself". Expanded, the haters would venture that it is his snarling, his loss of control on the touchline and, having been reared in Lurgan, his embrace of what Celtic stands for and rejection of all things Rangers that make him an accomplice in any wrong-doing perpetrated against him or his family.

This is baloney that deliberately fuses and confuses two separate issues. Anyone is entitled to have no time whatsoever for Lennon. This, though, offers no legitimacy to those who believe that it extends to creating a climate wherein, it is believed, some serious criminals in Northern Ireland have felt sufficiently emboldened by a public mood in Scotland to embark on a campaign of horrific harassment.

A campaign in which Lennon has been sent bullets and suspect packages, had distress caused to his parents in his homeland and been forced to have a panic button installed in his family home - a home which he and his partner and child have had to be moved from three times in the past month as a result of police receiving what they deemed "credible" threats.

Ultimately, the targeting of Lennon doesn't come down to his personality. His bolshiness and bad-mouthing in the heat of battle are, away from games, underpinned - and so undercut - by an impressive intelligence and articulacy. It is a consequence, pure and simple, of his being an unapologetic, successful Northern Irish Catholic in a country where there is a virulent anti-Catholic strain among a section of the Rangers support.

The apparent unwillingness to confront this issue head-on is one of the reasons the pressures on Lennon have continued to grow, and proved a primary motivation in McBride and Lennon's agent Martin Reilly putting firmly into the public domain the intolerable nature of what he is living under in a supposedly-civilised society.

The same week Lennon received bullets, so to did fellow Northern Irish Catholics Niall McGinn and Paddy McCourt. Two more unassuming and affable blokes you could not meet. All three were then fresh from Celtic's first league success in a derby in two years. The hatred of Lennon has been hiked up in the ten weeks since, as Celtic have attained a hitherto long-surrendered supremacy in encounters with their bitterest rivals.

Just as fans of the Ibrox club, for the first season in many years - appearing to take their lead from the Papal visit - have started giving lusty renditions of their No Pope of Rome ditty. It has barely been the subject of media comment, far less opprobrium, even if it patently comes under the charge of "incitement to religious hatred". There is hardly another football club in the world that could find themselves in the dock over that but still people are unable or unwilling to join the dots between the acceptance of such illegality and hate crimes directed at Lennon online, which must now be tackled as would internet fraud, terrorist threats and paedophilia.

Lennon's ability, and willingness, to stay in his post, may come down to the seriousness with which attempts are made to take the heat out of a situation that is impacting on both his personal and professional life. He has not appeared before the media since the fake nail bomb addressed to him was intercepted in Saltcoats ten days ago. Assistant Johan Mjallby performed such duties ahead of Celtic's trip to Inverness today for their sixth-round Scottish Cup tie, which the host club have had to make special security arrangements for in order to accommodate the banned Lennon in the stand of the Caledonian Stadium.

"He's been in the limelight for reasons that are not to do with football and that's why he has decided to sit this one out," the Swede said at Lennoxtown on Friday. "At the end of the day it's about Celtic Football Club and the players. That's what we want to discuss."

Mjallby, who last weekend rejected the suggestion floated by first-team coach Alan Thompson that Lennon could step away in the summer, insisted the Celtic manager's demeanour had not been affected by the invidious circumstances forced on him. "He's going great," he said. "He's a strong character. You've even more admiration for the way the guy works so well with the team, supports the players and thinks about tactics (in the face of what's happening off-field]."

Those in Lennon's circle and who have encountered him professionally have rejected the notion that he will quit, East Fife manager John Robertson describing him eloquently as "a warrior who would not walk". Yet despite offering similar sentiments, his agent also conceded that Glasgow was closing in on his client. "If we go out on a Saturday night then we go to places where people won't give him any hassle - but we're running out of places," Reilly said. "It seems to be wherever we go there's always problems for him."

For a man who, it must be remembered, has been open about his battles with depression, it has to be questioned how sustainable it is to live in a city where, in recent months, walking down the street with partner and child has at times become a trial and a gauntlet for the three; quite apart from all the other desperate difficulties he has been forced to endure. Yet Lennon is doing a job he covets - perhaps feels as if he was born for - and, as the most decorated Celtic player to belong entirely to the post-Jock Stein era, has a keen sense of the club's history and his potential place within it.

There is only so much it is worth going through to make a managerial mark anywhere, however beloved. That has long been passed with Lennon. Now he needs the will of government and football authorities to reset the boundaries of acceptable public behaviour. He deserves that; we must demand it.

by Andrew Smith

Scotland on Sunday, 13/03/2009

[jcb 1,167]

Andrew Smith- Ex Celtic View editor.

Maybe he should also do an article on why the Ulster Protestant Kyle Lafferty gets abused at every away ground in Scotland.

[The Hammer 11 2,649]

i want some of what this cunts smokin

[Gid 46]

Can't even begin to read that.

I'd end up throwing my laptop out the window.

[bluepeter 5,627]

Can't even begin to read that.

I'd end up throwing my laptop out the window.

This

Reading the headline was bad enough.

[blueoutthedome 87]

What a load of shit the wee unwashed carrot napper hates everything rangers stand for and so we have to welcome him with open arms fuck off

[bluepeter 5,627]

This is baloney that deliberately fuses and confuses two separate issues. Anyone is entitled to have no time whatsoever for Lennon. This, though, offers no legitimacy to those who believe that it extends to creating a climate wherein, it is believed, some serious criminals in Northern Ireland have felt sufficiently emboldened by a public mood in Scotland to embark on a campaign of horrific harassment.

You can just imagine these "serious criminals" in NI thinking "God, we hate Lennon. If only the Scottish public hated him more we could send him some bullets..."

[gunslinger 270]

andrew smith should ask himself this

why dont we hate other successful irish catholics.

as a side not is he catholic. surely a religious person doesnt carry on like lennon. ive been in churches my whole life and never met anyone like lennon. is the catholic church really that bad.

[Blues Brother 1,124]

what pish. is this guy for real?

[DarcheVinny 1,003]

fuck lennon

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

I will never ever buy that paper again as long as I live and I will be encouraging everyone I know to do likewise

An article crammed with emotional clap trap, fake assumptions, half truths and downright lies

You really have to question the sanity and the motives of the author

He conveniently fails to explain why the supporters of almost every other club in Scotland despise Lennon

A quite pathetic piece of journalism pandering to the paranoia of the less intelligent amongst the support of Celtc FC

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

Doubler

[Bothwellbear 1,392]

Andrew Smith- Ex Celtic View editor.

Maybe he should also do an article on why the Ulster Protestant Kyle Lafferty gets abused at every away ground in Scotland.

He gets abused everywhere because of the Aberdeen incident. He even gets abused for being shite by his own support.

[wearethepeople1 3,897]

Why can't any of them, just admit he is a CUNT.

Total cunt

[roboscot 1,178]

:chopometer:

[SirWalterSmithLegend 206]

This is the type of bile we are up against.

[jcb 1,167]

He gets abused everywhere because of the Aberdeen incident. He even gets abused for being shite by his own support.

He gets abused for the same reasons NL did when he first played here.

The difference being we were told NL got abuse because of his religion and not because of his actions on and off the park.

As for being abused by your own fans did NLs father not say he would never attend Celtic park again after his son was on the receiving end during a European game (Boavista or Villareal).

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

Maybe Alex Salmond would like to comment on the rhetoric in that piece

Or maybe he will just roll over and believe it

[SirWalterSmithLegend 206]

I will never ever buy ANY paper again as long as I live and I will be encouraging everyone I know to do likewise

An article crammed with emotional clap trap, fake assumptions, half truths and downright lies

You really have to question the sanity and the motives of the author

He conveniently fails to explain why the supporters of almost every other club in Scotland despise Lennon

A quite pathetic piece of journalism pandering to the paranoia of the less intelligent amongst the support of Celtc FC

I support you 100%

[Turnberry18 3,204]

We make the mistake of seeing this as the media, we should just call them what they are: Celtic fans with typewriters. Stop buying their papers, stop listening to their shows, don't subscribe to their outlets. In a commercial world that is our best asset to put a stop to to the attacks on the Club and the great fans, remember are mostly decent minded Scots, from being betrayed in such a fashion.

[MartinGers93 388]

This

Reading the headline was bad enough.

That's where I stopped

[Martin Luther 53]

Where was Andrew smith earlier in this season when rangers were top of the league and SFA refs and familys were in fear of their life from crazed conspiracy theory spouting celtic supporters.

Short fukin memory's.

[Martin Luther 53]

He gets abused for the same reasons NL did when he first played here.

The difference being we were told NL got abuse because of his religion and not because of his actions on and off the park.

As for being abused by your own fans did NLs father not say he would never attend Celtic park again after his son was on the receiving end during a European game (Boavista or Villareal).

From a rheptile site.

"In the second half of the Boavista game, Neil Lennon mad (sic) a pass back to Rab Douglas from about 25 yards out, which was met by loud grunts from a large section of the Celtic crowd, and boos from a small minority. To anyone who did boo Lennon, you should be ashamed of yourself, and should not return back to Celtic Park. The guy tries his heart out for the team, and that is all I have to say on the matter."

surely they booed him cause he is a "pure Northern Irish Kafflick man"

Just like they have tried to tarnish the whole of Dundee FC crowd for booing him on his debut.

Not because he is aggravating C@nt.

[jcb 1,167]

From a rheptile site.

"In the second half of the Boavista game, Neil Lennon mad (sic) a pass back to Rab Douglas from about 25 yards out, which was met by loud grunts from a large section of the Celtic crowd, and boos from a small minority. To anyone who did boo Lennon, you should be ashamed of yourself, and should not return back to Celtic Park. The guy tries his heart out for the team, and that is all I have to say on the matter."

surely they booed him cause he is a "pure Northern Irish Kafflick man"

Just like they have tried to tarnish the whole of Dundee FC crowd for booing him on his debut.

Not because he is aggravating C@nt.

[Ozblue 4,332]

i want some of what this cunts smokin

Why the fuck would you want to end up a fuckin idiot like this twat?