NEIL LENNON says he fully expects to be on the receiving end of sectarian abuse when he takes his Celtic side to Ibrox today despite the charges brought against Rangers by UEFA last week.
Lennon says he takes offence at being called a ‘fenian b*****d’ when he travels to face Rangers, noting that the club were quick to put out a statement apologising to Steve Clarke last season when he was on the receiving end of such abuse from the stands when manager of Kilmarnock, while they have never addressed the treatment he receives.
When asked if he expected that sectarian abuse to be tempered this afternoon by the punishments brought upon Rangers by UEFA, Lennon said: “No. It has always been that way. It was ever thus so I can’t imagine that changing overnight or in three of four days.
“You don’t want it sanitised completely either, but you want to strike a balance of there being a red-hot atmosphere without all the vitriol that goes with it.”
Lennon says the SFA and SPFL should be ashamed that it took UEFA to step in and finally attempt to deal with an issue that has plagued Scottish football for generations.
“It is embarrassing but then sometimes people turn a blind eye to it or go ‘och it is only him, he can deal with it’ but at the end of the day we are human beings,” he said.
“I think Rangers put a statement out after Steve Clarke got the abuse but there was none forthcoming for me over the years. I find that interesting as well.
“I don't know if this will embarrass anyone into dealing with it. I don't have all the answers. I've been saying this for quite a while, I even said it when I was at Hibs last season. But it's out of my jurisdiction.
“I've a big game to navigate, a team to look after, and a responsibility to that team so I'm not getting involved in debates about what’s right or what’s wrong on the terraces or away from the game.”
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