Not so long ago, Neil Lennon was sitting pretty, tucked in nicely at the helm at Parkhead making fanciful boasts about Celtic’s dominance and ambitions for 15 in a row.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
On the eve of the 19/20 season, having won the previous eight Scottish top flight titles, there was a feeling of invincibility emanating from the then Celtic manager, but that is a key factor in the implosion that we all witnessed in the season just past.
This glorious find, from the archives, courtesy of Mark Dingwall at Follow Follow fanzine, makes for glorious reading now…certainly from a Rangers perspective.
https://twitter.com/GrandmasterSuck/status/1397140416059879425
A bullish and headstrong, many would say arrogant, Lennon stated:
“Everyone is waiting for the run to end but we need to stay strong.”
“It’s Groundhog year – we’re now up to eight but I’d like to get to 12, 13, 14 because I’m greedy.”
“In fact, let’s make it to 15 – we’re halfway there!”
Reality
Fast forward almost two years and now look what we have.
A resurgent, resilient Rangers back on top, in a position of strength, ready to push on.
At the other end of the city, a tired, creaking Celtic are ready to embark on a massive rebuild – it’s almost June and their season ticket renewals have not yet been dispatched.
Dreams of the fabled ten are left in ruins, gone forever and they don’t quite know what is coming next – that is the reality.
There’s more than one lesson in there for the the deposed Celtic manager Lennon, who sounds very stupid on reflection of those particular boasts.