Neil Lennon gesture to Rangers fans was a reponse to 'horrendous abuse'
Aberdeen manager Craig Brown, the doyen of Scottish football management, on Monday night expressed sympathy for his Celtic counterpart, Neil Lennon.
Ear-ache: Neil Lennon provoked Rangers fans after Celtic claimed a draw at Ibrox Photo: REUTERS
By Ewing Grahame 7:54PM BST 25 Apr 2011
Comments
The 70 year-old refused to condemn the Irishman for taunting the Rangers supporters at the end of Sunday's Old Firm match at Ibrox, preferring to sympathise with the younger man.
Indeed, Brown revealed that he had helped tutor Lennon when he was taking his coaching badges in his native Northern Ireland, although he pointed out that nothing he had taught him could have prepared him for the events of the last few weeks.
“I watched the game on television,” he said. “All that I'll say is that [BBC Scotland's trackside reporter] Chick Young told me that Neil had been subjected to horrendous abuse throughout the game and that was his way of responding.
“But I don't want to get into any of this but I was there when he was doing his Pro licence course in Ireland and we'd do simulation exercises.
“The one which he and [Celtic coach] Alan Thompson did when I was there – and they were brilliant, co-operative guys – included discussions as well as us simply instructing them.
“For example, what happens when one of your players criticises you in the media? I've kept an article from when Gordon Strachan was a player at Aberdeen and he criticised Alex Ferguson. The headline was: 'You were wrong, Fergie!'
“Now how do you handle that as a manager? How do you handle it when you substitute a player and he throws his jersey at you as he comes off the pitch?
“And we'd discuss these things because there's no one answer to these problems. Some coaches would say: 'I'd fine him' while others would say: 'I'd punch him on the nose.'
“But I can honestly say that in all the courses I've been on we've never had a simulation which involved how you would handle death threats.
“This is quite, quite unprecedented, quite horrendous and totally out of order so I don't want to be critical in any way. I may be the oldest manager but that doesn't mean I'm the wisest.”
simulation exercises, gordon strachan, alex ferguson, bbc scotland, ear ache, craig brown, alan thompson, neil lennon, football management, scottish football, younger man, irishman, trackside, doyen, northern ireland, ewing, bst, counterpart, badges, gesture
No comments:
Post a Comment