Highlights - The Lennon Meltdown

Firing straight into Andy Walker

Interesting watching the media and the fallout and the attacks on the club. I have a question for you Charles, on your show last week you had Andy Walker on live saying our winter training camp was a jolly. Can you explain to me what he meant by that?

On Scotland

It’s not as if we did the conga in the dressing room dancing to Baccara or doing a train journey from London to Glasgow while having Covid.

Back to Andy Walker

What I want is for you to go speak to Andy and for Andy to apologise because he was demanding apologies from the club. I want an apology from Andy because he is questioning my professional integrity, my players professional integrity and the use of the word term ‘jolly’ is quite crass and arrogant.

He accused the club of being arrogant, we weren’t. We had no intention of being arrogant or rubbing it in anyone’s faces. We went out to do a good week’s work and get a volume of work we wouldn’t have got here in Scotland. Until then, you won’t be getting anything from me or my players.

Who is Andy speaking for then? Does he speak for the Celtic support? Is he all of a sudden a man of the people? Challenging the club’s social ethos. Andy has been in the game here for 20/30 years and he’s made no contribution to Celtic whatsoever.

I’m not sure he’s in a position, he stood up there as if he was a Celtic legend and a stalwart of the club, putting the boot into me, the club and everyone involved and I think he’s totally out of order.

Who is speaking for?

He’s on your platform.

His opinion is false and it’s insulting.

On Rangers and Perfect protocols

We played very well at Ibrox and didn’t deserve to lose the game. We were the better team. We’ve come back and been absolutely decimated by these rules. I’m not convinced they’re a public health issue, it seems political in my opinion. Nobody has got Covid. Our protocols were perfect.

Is it worth an apology?

Zenit St Petersburg are out there now, it wasn’t just exclusive to Celtic going out there. Other clubs use the facility as well because it’s world class.

I do regret that we lost 13 players and three very important members of staff but that was out of our control.

His George Bush reading books with kids moment.

I’m not getting into a fight with the government but I’ll leave it out there. Sorry just to clarify there, Iain has just told me that we’ve had one other person who has been deemed positive. So we’ve had two out of the whole 60.

Bloodlust

He’s not said that, no, but I don’t think he needs to either. My job is to carry on and get the best out of the team. It was only a month ago we won the treble but now there’s a bloodlust for me to lose my job.

On the "jolly" and congas again

We were in our bubble. The players were sitting in a bar, they weren’t on top of one another. We were outside having a beer in our bubble for half an hour. This is being made out to be something it’s not. We weren’t doing a 20 man conga which was lauded by all and sundry because Scotland qualified for the Euros

On photographs by the way

For me there was nothing wrong with the photographs, and by the way it’s illegal to take a photographs in Dubai without someone’s consent.

Show me anyone doing the right things...

Not everything was perfect but show me anyone who is doing the right things. For example, when we played Hibs we had to bus six players in two buses because we were told now that is the way it has to be.

More bloodlust

As soon as Celtic are deemed to do something wrong then bang. You are all wanting blood. It is absolutely scandalous.

It’s not so much a bloodlust

That’s your opinion? Not from where I’m sitting

On Apologies (again)

I’m only apologising because unfortunately we had one player pick it up.

On the damage done..

What reputational damage has it done? Compared to Raith Rovers, compared to Hamilton, compared to Kilmarnock, compared to Motherwell, compared to Aberdeen? What damage has it done?

Pontificating

You sit there pontificating to me like the rest of you all are. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Great News

Reports you are to continue until the end of the season?

Well that’s great news for me then isn’t it.

On Buses

We had to get two busses to take six players. That would have meant in Dubai, we would needed 20 buses.

Everyone being negative.

Everyone is negative. The whole squad is negative, bar two players. That’s remarkable, and it totally blows out the water the way the trip has been portrayed in certain quarters of the media

"Privilege"

We did not abuse any 'privilege', we did the right things, we were totally professional. We had a little drink in the afternoon on a day off, completely allowed, no law breaking.