Lawwell blames society

[Jim White 0]

Peter Lawwell has called for Scottish society to address "fundamental issues" following sustained abuse of Celtic.

 

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[Bluedell 5,348]

Celtic chief unhappy with continued hatred and intimidation campaign

 

Peter Lawwell has called for Scottish society to address the "fundamental issues" which he feels are behind "vile, sustained and relentless attacks" against Celtic and manager Neil Lennon.

 

Lennon was on Wednesday night the subject of an alleged assault at Tynecastle while a package containing ammunition was found at Parkhead less than 24 hours later.

 

In a statement, chief executive Lawwell said the Tynecastle incident "brings shame on Scottish football and again highlights the fact that Scottish society must address fundamental and serious issues which lead to outrages of this kind".

 

Lawwell believes it is intolerable the Celtic, or any other football club, should be subjected to a continued campaign of hatred and intimidation, and feels it is something the country needs to address.

 

Shame

"Wednesday night's appalling attack on Neil Lennon brings shame on Scottish football and again highlights the fact that Scottish society must address fundamental and serious issues which lead to outrages of this kind," read the statement on the club's official website.

 

"Apart from Wednesday night's events, this week alone we have seen seven people arrested at our training ground following an alleged firearms incident and I can also confirm that this morning (Thursday) another package arrived at Celtic Park which appears to contain ammunition.

 

"This has been removed and taken by police for further forensic tests. We are the only club to be the subject of such vile, sustained and relentless attacks.

 

"It is intolerable that any football club, or individual, going about their lawful business in the name of sport should be subjected to this ongoing campaign of hatred and intimidation.

 

"This is Scotland's shame and it is high time Scotland addressed it.

 

Intimidation

"Since moving here a decade ago, Neil Lennon has had to endure prejudice and violence both as a player and manager, having suffered no such problems elsewhere. In doing so, he has displayed a strength of character and resilience which deserve respect from all who oppose the campaign of intimidation against him.

 

"He is a man who is proud to be the Celtic manager and is someone who simply wants to be able to carry out his role in the same way as every other football manager can.

 

"Clearly, Neil will continue to receive every support and protection from Celtic Football Club.

 

"We are deeply appreciative of the intensive police efforts to address the criminal offences that have come to light.

 

"All right-minded people will surely condemn these actions but, as a society, we must also address the underlying factors that lead to such behaviour."

[Bluedell 5,348]

Is it the same issues that resulted in the sickening campaign against Nacho Novo, and the threats, abuse and assaults that the likes of Hugh Dallas and Michael McCurry had to endure?

 

Are these also Scotland's shame? Will Lawwell call for the underlying factors of these incidents to be dealt with or will he continue to pay lip service to it, while personally encouraging such behaviour by allowing bigoted banners to be consistently displayed in Celtic Park and failing to apprehend his own supporters for incidents like the Ricksen one.

 

Yet again Lawwell is shown to be a hypocrite and by using phrases such as "Scotland's shame" shows that he is more interested in point scoring than genuinely dealing with the problems that exist.

[calscot 0]

Starting with the man in the mirror?

[calscot 0]

Starting with the man in the mirror?

[ian1964 10,429]

Liewell,Dr Death & TLB have created a massive amount of trouble this season and yet still it's everybody else fault.It's time they were brought to task for their despicable behaviour,again. They have intimidated refs and opposing fans to the brink of something serious happening,and it has.The SFA have also let down Scottish football by allowing them to continue their attack on the refs and Scottish football. They should all hang their heads in shame.

[ian1964 10,429]

Only a few weeks ago, Walter Smith, the Rangers manager who is set to stand down at the end of this season, expressed relief at the prospect of taking his leave of the stew of sectarianism that is the all-too familiar backdrop of top-level football in Scotland.

 

His view is unlikely to have been changed by what happened at Tynecastle last night. It would be nice to think that the Hearts fan who appeared to attack Celtic manager Neil Lennon early in the second half of the two sides' SPL match in Edinburgh would make the whole of Scottish football stop and think about the depths it has recently plumbed. Nice, but events of the past few weeks have suggested that rancour is a bottomless pit in these parts.

 

Of course, Lennon had plenty of insights into that long before he took over as Celtic manager just over a year ago. Feisty, flame-haired and never one to step back from a challenge, he was, to be frank, the kind of player opposition fans love to hate.

 

But couple those factors to an upbringing as a Northern Ireland Catholic and his arrival at Celtic in December 2000 was a particularly red rag to fans from the other side of that most divided of football cities.

 

Controversy seemed to attach itself to Lennon like a shadow. The hard-tackling midfielder was always likely to amass a stack of yellow cards, but he had a particular gift for collecting cautions in matches against Rangers.

 

Famously, he was sent off for an altercation moments after the final whistle in a game at Ibrox in 2006, an incident that served only to reinforce the apparent hatred that Rangers fans reserved for him.

 

Lennon secured his status as a hate figure for Rangers supporters when he announced his decision to retire from international football in 2002, by which time he had collected 40 caps for Northern Ireland. It was reported, though not actually confirmed, that he had expressed a wish to play for an all-Ireland team, and he decided to stand down after receiving death threats soon afterwards.

 

All things considered, he might have been expected to develop a liking for the quieter life when he left Celtic in 2007 and subsequently saw out his playing career with spells at Nottingham Forest and Wycombe Wanderers.

 

However, he returned to Celtic as an assistant coach in April 2008. Generally speaking, things had been quiet between the Old Firm for a few years by then, but his arrival stoked up the dormant fires of mutual loathing and took hatred to new heights.

 

Or rather depths. Lennon's wry, chippy style was a red rag to the Rangers bull, with supporters of the Ibrox side believing he took delight from taunting them, but things took a sinister twist earlier this season. From the Celtic camp, there were accusations that the club was shown no favours by referees, and Lennon did nothing to defuse the tension.

 

Yet things really kicked off two months ago, when Lennon and Ally McCoist, the Rangers assistant manager, had an angry exchange at the end of an Old Firm game. The incident provoked predictable hand-wringing, but pious words did nothing to take the heat from the situation. Over the past few weeks, the bile and acrimony have reached levels never previously seen even in the febrile world of Scottish football.

 

The nadir was reached when parcel bombs were allegedly sent to Lennon and a couple of high profile Celtic fans a few weeks ago. It should have been a moment to stop and think, but the tension has mounted since. Lennon, for one, has done nothing to defuse the situation, fuelling the fires with claims that other teams were giving Rangers too easy a time of things in the run-in to the SPL title.

 

His words were probably rash, certainly ill-advised. It cannot be said with certainty that they provoked last night's incident, but there is no question that he enraged fans of many sides. Nothing can excuse what happened at Tynecastle, but you have to wonder just how long Lennon – a sensitive individual who has admitted so suffering from depression in the past – will consider it worth his while to stand in the line of fire for the sake of his club.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/celtic/8508677/Celtic-manager-Neil-Lennon-in-the-line-of-fire-as-hatred-continues-to-grow.html

[Stimpy 0]

Is it the same issues that resulted in the sickening campaign against Nacho Novo, and the threats, abuse and assaults that the likes of Hugh Dallas and Michael McCurry had to endure?

 

Are these also Scotland's shame? Will Lawwell call for the underlying factors of these incidents to be dealt with or will he continue to pay lip service to it, while personally encouraging such behaviour by allowing bigoted banners to be consistently displayed in Celtic Park and failing to apprehend his own supporters for incidents like the Ricksen one.

 

Yet again Lawwell is shown to be a hypocrite and by using phrases such as "Scotland's shame" shows that he is more interested in point scoring than genuinely dealing with the problems that exist.

 

You forgot Gazza and Ricksen were also threatened.

[Danny 0]

I can't stand him, but Lawell is right, this is a social problem.

 

Ours is an ill society, and consequently people in public positions like those in the OF should behave in a manner which doesn't provoke the neanderthals. Walter managed it, MON managed it, Advocaat managed, Mowbray and WGS were fine, Eck and PLG had no problems.

 

But Lennon is his own worst enemy. Don't poke the bear you fool. Unfortunately Lennon has stuck the knife in it and doesn't expect to get mauled?

[Danny 0]

You forgot Gazza and Ricksen were also threatened.

 

Another 2 who couldn't behave. Fireworks and flutes hardly helped them. Plenty of high profiler OF'rs have stayed out the limelight and been just fine.