Celtic angered by Lennon threats

Celtic chairman Brian Quinn has branded the bigots who daubed sectarian slogans outside the Glasgow home of Neil Lennon as “morons”.

The 32-year-old woke up to further abuse on Sunday morning after vandals had painted threats such as ‘You are a dead man Lennon’ in his street in the west end of the city.

The vandalism was just the latest piece of sectarian abuse aimed at the Hoops midfielder, who was forced to quit playing for Northern Ireland after a death threat in August 2002.

Lennon has become a target for the bigots since his arrival at Parkhead in 2000.

The Hoops player of the year was the subject of a street attack a year ago, while a man was recently fined £500 (€736) for hurling abuse at him as he drove along the M8 motorway.

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill insists the player will rise above the abuse as he negotiates an extended deal at the club.

Quinn said: “No-one should be subjected to the kind of abuse which Neil Lennon has suffered and, in particular, we strongly condemn sectarian behaviour of any kind.

“We would urge anyone with information on this incident to contact the police as soon as possible.

“Over many years, Celtic has invested heavily in supporting programmes which promote tolerance throughout our society and it is shameful that players are still being subjected to abuse such as this.

“All right-thinking football fans will find this sort of moronic behaviour utterly reprehensible.”

O’Neill is confident the perpetrators of the latest sectarian incident will be charged by Strathclyde Police but he sympathises with the player.

He said: “For almost the last four years, he (Lennon) has had to put up with this type of abuse.

“Some people seem to believe that it is, in some way, self-induced but, to my mind, it is very far from it.

“He has had a tough time over the last four years, no doubt about it, and, coming from a similar background myself, I have a lot of sympathy for him.

“He has come through all that before though and, this season, has been fantastic for us.

“This sort of thing is always worrying, especially when it is on your own doorstep and people are hanging about where you live and I can only hope that the matter is in the hands of the police and they deal with it as best they can.

“I hope that it won’t affect him. He won the player of the year award at the club last week after collecting a lot of votes and I know that is something that means a lot to him.

“He has to put up with all of this and it has not been easy.”

Lennon helped the club clinch a third Bank of Scotland Premier League title in four years this season and will play in the Tennent’s Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline on Saturday.

But the midfielder admitted he was “appalled” by the latest incident.

Lennon said: “This affects not only me but my neighbours also. I don’t want this behaviour brought to my or anyone else’s doorstep.

“I have already apologised to the people affected by it.”