It looked a marriage made in heaven. Neil Lennon. Out and out winner as a player and a manager. Hibernian. Perennial bridesmaids stuck in the second tier of Scottish football capable of beating Celtic one week and losing to Hamilton Academical the next. When Neil arrived at Easter Road back in July 2016 he spoke at length about banishing Hibernian of the ‘boy band’ tag that has been aimed at the club since the days of Derek Riordan, Garry O’Connor and dare I say it Tam McManus.
In his own words ‘inconsistency would not be tolerated’ and the only thing that mattered was winning. The Hibs fans lapped those comments up and he duly delivered promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt.There were some bumps along the way, including a memorable filleting of his players after a 1-1 draw at Raith Rovers in which he branded his players ‘a disgrace’. Those rants were infrequent in his first two seasons at Hibs due to the success both Neil and his team enjoyed. When he did have the occasional pop it had meaning. But the shock tactics to give your players a fright only work on the odd occasion. You simply cannot lambast your players every week because when you do that, the effect you have is diluted and you can start to turn players against you.
One of the main issues this season seems to be the deterioration of the relationship between Neil and his star striker Florian Kamberi. When Kamberi first signed for Hibs on loan last January he was a revelation. For the second part of that season he was arguably the best striker in the country. Nine goals in 14 games made him a wanted man. I know that he was Neil Lennon’s number one target and the board moved heaven and earth to get him on a permanent three-year deal. He is on big money in Hibs terms. But he has been miles off that form this season.
Now I get lots of Hibs punters will argue that the loss of Scott Allan and laterally Martin Boyle has led to a lack of service and I understand that but it’s his all-round demeanour and work rate that for me had rightly been called into question by Neil. The hunger and desire that got him his deal at Hibs has vanished. Physically he was being pushed off the ball far too easily and not leading the line or working as hard. That’s certainly not a lack of service. That’s why Lennon has been on his back.
In fact a manager once told me that the day he stops getting on somebody’s case to keep their standards high is the day he has given up on them. Neil is on Kamberi because he knows that he is capable of far better. The one mistake Neil has made though was singling Kamberi out in public. It should have been done privately. When a manager slaughters the whole team to the press and doesn’t name names, a player can kid themselves on that it’s not them. But when you're named it’s a different story and I don’t agree with that in this day and age. It’s a different era from when Neil was a player and players have certainly got a far thinner skin. With that blast he lost Kamberi in my opinion.
Neil Lennon will never change. He is demanding and does not accept second best nor allow his players to have an off day. That is a great trait but it takes a certain type of character to respond to that. Maybe he didn’t have enough winners in that changing room? But every player is different and some require the carrot and not the stick. That’s modern day football, like it or loathe it.
I have no doubt he would have wanted Hibs to be up challenging for the league title this season like Kilmarnock and Aberdeen. It will hurt to see Hibs sitting eighth and you could sense his frustration was coming to a head. But that is down to the recruitment in the summer being more miss than hit. Also maybe Neil’s ambitions at Hibs were too much for the board at Easter Road. But he has been well backed by the board of directors in terms of players within a budget. A budget he agreed to before he got the job. Under Rod Petrie and Leeann Dempster the club will never be allowed to live outwith its means. That will be looked at as a lack of ambition by some Hibs fans and I’ve no doubt Neil, who would have wanted to kick on again, but that’s the way it will always be at Hibernian. It’s a tight ship. The board will never allow Hibs to get in a similar situation that a lot of clubs have got themselves in recently by throwing money at a manager chasing the dream then needing the fans to bail them out.
I have no doubt Neil Lennon will bounce back. He is a very good manager and probably the best Hibs have had since Tony Mowbray. He installed a real winning mentality into a club who were traditionally frail in that department. It will hurt a lot of Hibees to see him leave Easter Road. I’m personally disappointed that it has ended like this but both Neil and Hibs will move on. Let’s hope for all parties the divorce is clean and swift.
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