During Celtic’s 3 0 win over Hearts on Wednesday night, a Hearts of Midlothian fan ran along the touchline and tried to attack Celtic manager Neil Lennon, failing to do any damage to the manager.
The incident happened just after Celtic ‘s second goal when Lennon was standing on his own on the touchline celebrating, when a fan jumped out of the stands and ran at Lennon, before being pulled aside by Celtic coach Alan Thompson and brought to the ground right in front of Lennon’s feet. Lennon appeared shocked however appeared to give his attacker a mouthful of abuse before returning back to his technical area as the ‘fan’ was handcuffed and taken out of the stadium.
Lennon has had to deal with abuse, death threats and even live bombs being sent to his and other Irish players playing for Celtic’s houses however this is the first time in recent memory a manager has been attacked on the pitch.
There are growing fears around Parkhead that Neil Lennon’s one year rolling contract may not be renewed due to the severity of the situation surrounding both his personal life and now even his job on the pitch and Chief Executive Peter Lawwell informed fans that himself and Lennon will hold talks at the end of the season to discuss if Lennon will be Celtic manager next year.
The game had other incidents with wing back David Obua being sent off for throwing a punch at Celtic left winger Charlie Mulgrew. Kris Commons was also sent off for Celtic after scoring and celebrating by going into the fans, receiving a second yellow card.
The win for Celtic means that Sunday will be a title deciding weekend, with Rangers playing away to Kilmarnock while Celtic host Motherwell at Parkhead. If both teams win then Rangers will win the league by one point, helicopter Sunday awaits Glasgow but will it be Lennon’s last game in charge of the Hoops?
Simon Kermack
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