Former Celtic boss Neil Lennon admits he tried to spook the infamous Lennoxtown leaker in a bid to stop teams being announced by claiming the forensics were coming.
The Irishman and predecessor Brendan Rodgers suffered through a series of high-profile early reveals with none more notable than the first clash between Celtic and Rangers in the 2020/21 season. Lennon let rip after it was leaked that both Patryk Klimala and Stephen Welsh would start against their great rivals 15 hours before kick-off. And he admitted line-up subterfuge had become the bane of his second spell in charge.
Speaking on BBC's 5 Live, he said: "Even at Celtic, in my second spell, we would pick the team a day before. Then the team would be out on the wires at like 7pm that night. You're thinking 'it's coming from somewhere it's coming from somewhere in the building'. Sometimes, even the players can do you in if they're maybe out the team. It wouldn't have happened 10-15 years ago but it's such a common trend now. I am wary of naming a team a day before the game but it's what the players like.
"We played Jonny Hayes (September 2019), there's absolutely no way anybody could have known we were going to play Jonny Hayes on the left wing. I swear, at 6.30pm (Saturday night before game) it's all over Twitter. I was raging, you are just giving the opposition an advantage here. Because either someone is getting paid money for it or they are giving it to a betting company, or this guy is feeding them a few... I don't know. It was just so wrong on so many levels."
And the rising angst forced the Irishman into serious action as he told those within the East Dunbartonshire training centre men in white suits were incoming if it didn't stop. He added: "It wasn't leaked to the media, it was leaked to somebody and this guy would put it on Twitter. Even under Brendan, nine times out of 10 was bang on with the team.
"Somebody in the dressing room or the building is doing this. We tried all sorts to stop it. I said we are bringing in forensic computer IT guys to check your phones and blah, blah.. And it stopped for a while. But then bang it started again."
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