Many of us found Ian Wright a hard figure to take seriously, even before he made a pillock of himself whilst trying to flog chicken sauces to a deeply indifferent nation. Perhaps it was because of Wright's fallback technique to deflect attention from his many misdemeanours on the field; namely, with wearying regularity, the Arsenal man would say he had only tried to break his opponent's leg/gave the finger to the fans/wore an offensive t-shirt because he was subject to racial abuse.
It is an insidious and disturbing ploy; whilst one would support Wright in any course of action he would wish to take against the cancer that is racism, many of us cynically wondered why he only felt the need to raise the issue when he was in the dock after another unsavoury incident. By the same token, raising these concerns could lead to the suspicious being labelled as racist sympathisers, an hysterical charge which does what it intends to - embarrasses the accuser back into the shadows, frightful of their reputation being further damaged.
It is a template, I would argue, which Neil Lennon has studied and learned from.
Hands up time; I can't stand Neil Lennon. To me, he is the whining, cheating, negative emblem of everything which is bad about a Martin O'Neill team. Lazy, immobile and deeply untalented, it boggles my mind that someone other than his mother would choose to pay this chap somewhere in the region of £30,000 a week to provide his highly negligible skills in midfield. I don't seem to be alone in this - in last season's UEFA Cup Semi-Final against Boavista, Lennon was loudly booed by the Celtic support after yet another negative backpass - so spare me the argument that Rangers fans dislike him for his talent. Larsson, yes; Lennon, a firm and unequivocal no. Quite frankly, I hope he remains in a Celtic jersey for years to come, because it prevents someone with talent from taking it.
I should also point out that I hated Neil Lennon when he played at Leicester, for the same reasons mentioned above. His constant bleating, scurrying at referees to get opponents booked and play which would get football stopped were also issues. I loudly rejoiced when Alan Shearer kicked him on the head - and I didn't have a clue which team Lennon supported when I saw this incident! For every Celtic supporter who claims that he is persecuted because of his team/religion/country of origin, I ask this - why does everyone hate Robbie Savage? Because he is hateable! Same with Lennon.
Now, I'm not saying Neil Lennon deserves to be attacked because of who he plays for - but I'd say that Peter Lovenkrands doesn't either. However, the Scottish press gets its collective knickers in a twist over the former because it is a 'sectarian incident' (you know, the type involving Rangers fans) whilst the latter is merely foolish high-spirits after a night out. I've said before that if you are a Rangers or a Celtic player going out in Glasgow, you are a target for a minority of halfwits. Go out mob handed, ask for a private room, have a party in a function suite - it may not be fair but then again, that 20k plus a week should be some recompense. If you won't show common sense and accept that the world won't change because you want it to, hell mend you. Barry Ferguson was offered the same advice, chose to ignore it and copped the hassle but he didn't call the papers every time it happened.
The latest issue is that Lennon gave Dundee fans a v-sign at Dens on 13/9/3. Pundits have said that anyone who gives players abuse then reacts when they get some back are pathetic. Fair enough. But I would argue that with the massive salary and the star lifestyle comes responsibility. If you can't take the abuse, give up the game and work in a factory. I have a feeling no-one would like Neil Lennon in there either, mind.
Lennon allows himself to get wound up, because he is aware of his limited ability and aware of his true standing amongst Celtic fans as the immediately replaceable team member. To counter this, he courts the moronic Plastic Paddy element of the support - those who love him because he is Irish, because he supports a united Ireland and because he allows them to believe that they are persecuted. He is a representative of all that is wrong with the Celtic support - bigoted, blinkered and with a complete lack of self-awareness. If you are a Celtic fan and you love Neil Lennon because you can sing 'he's like me and you, he's a Provo too' at him then you are scum.
Neil Lennon is a poor footballer with a bad temper, a chip on his shoulder and a ready-made excuse for his failings. It is not bigotry to dislike Neil Lennon - it is good sense. Whilst his kind deflect attention away from real sectarian issues, he also acts as a sop to the real bigots. With that in mind, I hope the SFA throw the book at this chancer.