McAvennie: 'I'll never forgive' the Celtic players who 'downed tools'
Frank McAvennie has ripped into the Celtic first team for "downing tools" after Neil Lennon's departure.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the Bhoys legend said he will "never forgive" some of the players for their performances in what was a "massive" season for the club.
Celtic announced on Wednesday morning that Lennon resigned from his position as manager with the club 18 points behind Rangers in the Scottish Premiership.
John Kennedy has been placed in temporary charge of the first team until a successor is appointed and he is also the bookies favourite to take the job permanently.
McAvennie believes the players need to take a large portion of the blame for Lennon's exit regardless of whether they got on with the Irishman.
"The players have got an awful lot to answer to because they downed tools." he told Football Insider.
"Some of those players think they are better than what they are.
"Even if they did not like Neil Lennon, you should still go out there and play your best. When you cross that white line you are playing for yourself, you teammates and your fans. Forget about the manager. I did not like all of my managers but I always gave everything.
"A lot of the players put themselves before the season. It was wrong. This was a massive season for Celtic.
"The players never stood up to the challenge. There is no excuse for that because the players are better than how they are playing.
"You cannot blame that all on the manager, I am not having that. The manager takes the brunt of it but I will never forgive the players because some of them downed tools."